Power demand shrinks for third straight month in October; industrial slowdown to blame

Fall in demand in the Indian economy has taken a toll on the power sector, shrinking electricity demand for the third straight month in October. The power requirement started to fall in August after more than two years. A widespread slump in demand in major sectors such as consumer goods, auto, and real estate has led to a decline of 13.2 per cent in the country’s power requirement, reported Bloomberg citing CEA data. Low demand has also pulled down India’s manufacturing PMI to a two year low in October, adversely affecting the power consumption.

Along with electricity, the slowdown has also hit the monthly consumption of diesel and petrol. The consumption of petroleum fuel has been declining since June and hit the lowest level since the start of 2017 in September.