India’s electricity supply nearly matches demand as the gap between energy supplied and energy requirement in the country has declined from 0.5% in FY 2022-23 to almost nil in the current financial year, the Ministry of Power informed Parliament on Monday, 9 March.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik said that there is adequate availability of electricity in the country and that the government has significantly strengthened generation and distribution capacity over the past decade.
According to the minister, India’s present installed power generation capacity stands at 520.51 gigawatt.
“There is adequate availability of power in the country. Present installed generation capacity of the country is 520.511 GW. Government of India has addressed the critical issue of power deficiency by adding 296.388 GW of fresh generation capacity since April, 2014 transforming the country from power deficit to power sufficient,” the minister said.
The minister noted that the gap between energy supplied and energy requirement has steadily narrowed in recent years.
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According to the data shared by the minister, the deficit stood at 0.5% in FY 2022-23, declined to 0.3% in FY 2023-24 and further to 0.1% in FY 2024-25 before reaching almost nil during the current financial year.
During FY 2022-23 the total energy requirement was 15,13,497 million units, while energy supplied stood at 15,05,914 million units, leaving a shortfall of 7,583 million units.
In FY 2023-24, the requirement rose to 16,26,132 million units and supply reached 16,22,020 million units.
The trend continued in FY 2024-25, when energy requirement stood at 16,93,959 million units and supply reached 16,92,369 million units, reducing the deficit to just 1,590 million units.
For the current financial year 2025-26 up to January 2026, the energy requirement has been recorded at 14,27,436 million units, while supply has reached 14,27,009 million units, leaving a shortfall of only 427 million units, effectively bringing the deficit close to zero.
Alongside improvements in supply adequacy, the minister said the government has undertaken several measures to improve the financial viability of power distribution companies and strengthen the electricity distribution network across the country.
These initiatives include the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme aimed at improving the quality and reliability of power supply, reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses, expansion of smart metering, strengthening of distribution infrastructure, and reforms in tariff and subsidy accounting mechanisms.
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