We used to be a deficit, the gap between demand and supply ranged from 8.5% in 2011-12 to about 4.2% in 2013-14. Today, it is at 0.2% which is the technical minimum: Union Power Minister Raj K Singh on achievements of the Power sector during the last 9 years said we have now become a power surplus nation and net exporter of electricity.
The installed renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) has increased from 76.37 GW in March 2014 to 173.61 GW in May 2023, reflecting an increase of around 2.27 times. RE generation (including large Hydro) has increased from 190.88 billion units (BU) in 2014 -15 to 365.60 BU in 2022-23 (up to March, 2023).
The Minister said several initiatives for promotion of renewable energy were also taken in the last 9 years resulting in increase of non-fossil installed capacity to 43% in FY23. We have awarded 1,000 MWh battery storage project, which is one of the largest in the world.
- All villages and households have been electrified—a total of 2.86 cr. households connected.
- We have a massive transmission line of 4.71 lakh ckm, of which 1,97,229 ckm were added in the last 9 years.
- We also have ambitious plans for integrating over 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by FY30.
- “Average hours of supply in rural areas increased from 12.5 in FY14 to 20.53 in FY23, while it stand at 23.78 hours for urban areas.”