The government will take all possible measures to meet the 230 gigawatt (GW) single-day peak demand expected in April 2023, according to Power Secretary Alok Kumar.
On Wednesday, Power Minister R.K. Singh presided over a meeting to review the preparation to meet the high electricity demand expected in April next year.
The top power ministry official, Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Ghanshyam Prasad besides other government officers were part of the meeting.
On the outcome of the meeting, the secretary told PTI there are two parameters on which the government will work.
Firstly, it will ensure there should be enough power generation capacity, and for that companies have been directed to carry out maintenance work of their plants so there is no issue at that time, he said.
According to Mr. Kumar, the demand in April next year could be as high as 230 GW.
As per official figures, the maximum all-India power demand met at 2:51 p.m. on April 26, 2022 was 201.066 GW.
The second aspect discussed at the meeting was to increase the production and dispatch of coal as much as possible. In this regard, review meetings are being held with ministries of coal and railways on a regular basis, he said.
When asked if the government will also keep the option of coal imports open to maintain supply of the dry fuel, the official said, "We (government) will do whatever we will have to do to ensure continuous power supply (in April)."
Earlier this year, the power minister had asked state power generation companies (GENCOS) to import 10% of coal requirement for blending purposes and lift the entire quantity of coal offered under rail-cum-road (RCR) mode expeditiously to build coal stock to avoid shortage during monsoon.
