Electricity consumption in India, which is currently some 600 terawatt hour annually, is set to double by next decade, surpassing Russian levels in the process, a KPMG survey says.
KPMG’s Global Advisory Practice released a power industry research - Think BRIC! - which reveals that in order to supply this extra electricity, total generating capacity should jump by 90 giga watt (GW) to 241 GW, with an increased emphasis on nuclear, clean coal and renewables, including solar and small-hydro, sources of energy.
The survey finds, while the state and federal governments have initiated reforms, legislation designed to supply electricity to all consumer groups, conservative elements, and social programmes, ‘systemic weaknesses and contradictions within frequently combine to stifle progress’
Additionally, factors like increasing economic activity, wealth and population, an improved standard of living and infrastructure developments are all expected to underline a continuous increase in demand for power in the next decade.
Manish Agarwal, Executive Director, KPMG in India said, “A rural electrification programme in the 1980s brought electricity to 200,000 villages for the first time.”
“Generation capacity hit 150 GW in 2006, a 40 per cent increase from the 2000 figure, after reforms in 2003 initiated a much needed restructuring of the power sector. However, one respondent of our survey estimated that at least 500 million Indians still have no access to electricity,” he added.
