The electricity sector in India is predominantly controlled by the Government of India's public sector

undertakings (PSUs). Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include National Thermal Power

Corporation (NTPC),Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Nuclear

Power Corporation of India (NPCI). Besides PSUs, several state-level corporations, such as Tamil Nadu Electricity

Board(TNEB) in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra State Electricity Board(MSEB)in Maharashtra, Kerala State Electricity

Board(KSEB) in Kerala, in Gujarat (MGVCL, PGVCL, DGVCL, UGVCL four distribution Companies and one controlling

body GUVNL, and one generation company GSEC), are also involved in the generation and intrastate distribution of

electricity. The PowerGrid Corporation of India is responsible for the inter-state transmission of electricity and the

development of national grid.

The Ministry of Power is the apex body responsible for the development of electrical energy in India. This ministry started

functioning independently from 2 July 1992; earlier, it was known as the Ministry of Energy. The Union Minister of Power

at present is Sushilkumar Shinde of the Congress Party who took charge of the ministry on the 28th of May, 2009.

India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption. Due to India's economic

rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years.[1] In June 2010, the

installed power generation capacity of India stood at 162,366 MW[2] while the per capita energy consumption stood at

612 kWH.[3] The country's annual energy production increased from about 190 billion kWH in 1986 to more than 680 billion

kWH in 2006.[4] The Indian government has set a modest target to add approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation

capacity by 2012 which it is likely to miss.[5] The total demand for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by

2030.[6]

About 70% of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21% by hydroelectric power

plants and 4% by nuclear power plants.[7] More than 50% of India's commercial energy demand is met through the

country's vast coal reserves.[1] The country has also invested heavily in recent years on renewable sources of energy such

as wind energy.[8] As of 2008, India's installed wind power generation capacity stood at 9,655 MW.[9] Additionally, India has

committed massive amount of funds for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000

MW.[10] In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar powerby 2020.[11]

Electricity losses in India during transmission and distribution are extremely high and vary between 30 to 45%.[12] In 2004-

05, electricity demand outstripped supply by 7-11%.[13] Due to shortage of electricity, power cuts are common throughout

India and this has adversely effected the country's economic growth.[14][15] Theft of electricity, common in most parts of

urban India, amounts to 1.5% of India's GDP.[16][17] Despite an ambitious rural electrification program,[18] some 400 million

Indians lose electricity access during blackouts.[19]While 80 percent of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just

52.5% of rural households have access to electricity. In urban areas, the access to electricity is 93.1% in 2008. The

overall electrification rate in India is 64.5% while 35.5% of the population still live without access to electricity.[20] According

to a sample of 97,882 households in 2002, electricity was the main source of lighting for 53% of rural households

compared to 36% in 1993.[21] Multi Commodity Exchange has sought permission to offer electricity future markets.[22]
Generation

Grand Total Installed Capacity (as on 30-09-2010) is 164,835.80 MW.[23]

[edit]Thermal Power

Current installed capacity of Thermal Power (as of 30-09-2010) is 106,517.98 MW which is 64.6% of total installed

capacity.

 Current installed base of Coal Based Thermal Power is 87,943.38 MW which comes to 53.3% of total installed

base.

 Current installed base of Gas Based Thermal Power is 17,374.85 MW which is 10.5% of total installed capacity.

 Current installed base of Oil Based Thermal Power is 1,199.75 MW which is 0.9% of total installed capacity.

The state of Maharashtra is the largest producer of thermal power in the country.

[edit]Hydro Power

India was one of the pioneering countries in establishing hydro-electric power plants. The power plant

at Darjeeling and Shimsha(Shivanasamudra) was established in 1898 and 1902 respectively and is one of the first

in Asia.

The installed capacity as of 30-9-2010 was approximately 37,328.40 MW.[24] The public sector has a predominant share of

97% in this sector.[25]

[edit]Nuclear Power

Currently, twenty nuclear power reactors produce 4,560 MW (2.9% of total installed base).

Main article: Nuclear power in India

[edit]Renewable Power

Current installed base of Renewable energy is 16,492.42 MW which is 7.7% of total installed base with the southern state

of Tamil Naducontributing nearly a third of it (5008.26 MW) largely through wind power.[23]

[edit]
 STATISTICAL ENERGY ANALYSIS
Did you know?

• Commercial sources of Energy (sources that cost i.e. coal, petroleum,

electricity) are only 50% of total energy consumption in India. Means non-
commercial sources like fuelwood, agricultural waste & animal dung
constitute ½ of the total energy consumption in India.
• More than 60% of Indian households depend on traditional sources of Energy
for cooking & heating needs.
• At current rate of consumption & production, coal reserves inIndia would
last for about 130 years.
• At current rate of consumption & production, oil in India would last only for
about 20 to 25 years.
• In commercial energy consumption, coal constitutes 29%, Oil & gas
54% & electricity 17%.
• We are using only 20% of total hydro-power potential. (Estimated annual
energy potential from hydro-electric sources is around 90000 MW while we are
currently producing only 18000 MW.
• Out of total electricity production, 65.8% comes from thermalpower
plants, 26.3% from hydro electricity & only 3.1% fromnuclear power. Non-
conventional, renewable energy sources like solar, wind energy constitute nearly
4.9%. (As per NIC site on Ministry of Power).
• Public sector produces 558 billion kwh of electricity while private
sector only 58 billion kwh.
• Uranium reserves in country – 70,000 tonnes (equivalent to 120 billion
tonnes of coal) and Thorium reserves – 3,60,000 tonnes (equivalent to 600 billion
tonnes of coal) – which is about 5 times the coal reserves in country.
• 65% of total rural energy consumption is met from fuel woods- (180 million
tonnes for households + 43 million tonnes for cottage industry, hotels etc). At
this rate, in near future, fuelwood could be a greater constraint than availability
of foodgrains. (The problem can be solved by government spending of around
Rs. 1000 crore annually).
• If animal dung is not utilized for burning and is used as fertilizer, food
production would increase considerably because 73 milliontonnes of animal
dung is burnt every year for energy purposes, which is far more than
total fertilizer consumed in agriculture production in India.
• From 1951 to 2004, the coal production has increased 12 times, crude
oil 110 times & electricity 65 times.
• In 1973, price for petroleum crude oil in global market was only$2 per
barrel ($2.09 exactly).
• Did you know, India has not experienced a sudden shock in its balance of
payments after steep increase in global oil prices thanks to large inward
 remittance of foreign currencies by Indians working abroad (Thank you
NRIs!).
• Only 0.3% of world’s known oil reserves are in India.
• Transport sector accounts for 56% of total oil consumption inIndia.
• Millions of poor people in India spend up to 100 man-days every year in
gathering fuelwood for cooking purposes.
• Demand for coal rises @ 4 to 5% per year, for petroleum products 6 to 7%
per year & for electricity 9 to 10% per year.
• India is second largest exploiter of Wind Energy – 1000 MW (70% by
private sector).
• There are 33 lakh bio-gas plants, 2 lakh solar cookers & 10000 street lighting
systems using solar photo-voltaic technology.
• Out of total electricity consumption in India, 34% goes to Industry, 24% to
agriculture, 21 % to domestic use, 12% to public lighting & 2% to railway
traction. These figures do not include captive (i.e. private sector) power
generation.
• Currently 5,87,560 villages in India have electricity. Still 1,12,400 villages
haven’t seen what electricity is! (most of these are in Assam, Orissa, UP,
MP & Rajasthan). And that does not mean that every house in those 5,87,560
electrified villages has electricity…even if 10% of the households get electricity,
government declares the village electrified! (This is as per ‘new modified’
definition of ‘electrified villages’ formulated in 2003-04.)

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