Power demand is estimated to have marginally risen to 0.4 per cent (year-on-year) to 140 billion units (BUs) in October after two consecutive months of decline, according to a report on Monday.

On the other hand, power generation in India is estimated to have increased 2.4 per cent to 152 billion units (BUs) last month, more than meeting monthly demand, said the Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics report.

With the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, power demand in the northern and eastern states increased 13 per cent and 4 per cent on-year, respectively, in October.

In contrast, power demand in the southern region, which also receives the northeast monsoon between October and December, declined 10 per cent on-year, the report mentioned.

The generation of hydro, nuclear and renewable energy increased 43 per cent, 6 per cent and 1 per cent on-year, respectively.

“Coal remains the mainstay of electricity generation in India. To ensure uninterrupted generation, dispatch of coal to power plants surged 4 per cent on-year in the first half of fiscal 2025, thereby increasing coal stocks,” the report mentioned.

As on October 31, 2024, thermal power plants had 35 million tonnes (MT) of coal stock vs 21 MT in the same period last year, the report stated.

“Plants have higher coal stocks this year. As on October 31, power plants had 12 days of coal stocks vs eight days last year. Another reason for the high coal stock is the government mandating in April that imported coal-based (ICB) power plants run on full capacity till October 15, 2024.

As a result, coal imports by power plants surged 29 per cent year-on-year to 36 MT in the first half of this fiscal, said the report.

Consequently, the share of hydro power generation rose to 11 per cent in October from 8 per cent in the corresponding month of last year, whereas the share of coal-based power reduced to 73 per cent from 75 per cent.

Over the April-October period in current fiscal, power demand is estimated to have increased 4.7 per cent on-year.