There has been a 7.3 per cent deficit between demand and supply of electricity from April to October 2005. According to official data, there was a shortage of 2,64,99 million units of power during this period.
Against the all-India requirement of 361,575 million units, only 3,35,076 million units was made available. All regions faced power deficits, with the Western region leading the tally with 10.9 per cent shortage.
It is followed by the Northern region with a 10.1 per cent deficit. The Southern region is at the bottom of the chart with supply falling short of demand by 0.9 per cent. Eastern and North-East regions saw 2.9 per cent and 7.9 per cent deficit, respectively.
Andaman and Nicobar leads the state/UT-wise deficit chart with a 28.6 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh (21.3 per cent) and Meghalaya (15.9 per cent). Lakshwadweep, Pondicherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Pondicherry are the only places with no power shortage.
In the Northern region, Uttar Pradesh tops the deficit list with 21.3 per cent while Maharashtra tops the list in the Western region with 14.1 per cent shortage. Andhra Pradesh's power supply deficit of 1.4 per cent is the maximum in the Southern region.
In order to bridge this gap, the power ministry is targeting a capacity addition of 41,110 MW in the Tenth Five-Year Plan. Out of the targeted total capacity addition, 22,832 MW will be added in the central sector, 11,157 MW in the state sector and 7,121 MW in the private sector.
The ministry is also banking on introduction of the high voltage distribution system. Power utilities suffered commercial losses of Rs 2,06,23 crore (Rs 206.23 billion) during 2003-04.
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