TFP Bureau, New Delhi, June 10, 2025: India has reached a landmark in its power sector by successfully meeting a peak electricity demand of 241 gigawatts (GW) on 9th June 2025, with zero peak shortage, Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal announced today at a press conference in New Delhi. This milestone highlights the nation’s growing power infrastructure and its march toward becoming a power-surplus country.
Shri Manohar Lal detailed several transformative achievements over the past year, including the addition of a record 34 GW of generation capacity during 2024-25, of which 29.5 GW came from renewable energy sources. This expansion has increased India’s total installed capacity to 472.5 GW, nearly doubling from 249 GW in 2014.
To further strengthen energy security and renewable integration, the Ministry of Power has approved a Rs 5,400 crore Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme to support 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), supplementing the 13.2 GWh of storage capacity already underway. The initiative is expected to attract investments totaling Rs 33,000 crore by 2028, providing critical grid flexibility.
The government also extended the waiver of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for storage projects until 30 June 2028, supporting both Pumped Storage Projects and Battery Energy Storage Systems to optimize transmission line use.
Highlighting futuristic grid upgrades, Shri Manohar Lal announced the rollout of an Ultra High Voltage Alternating Current (UHV AC) Transmission System by 2034. This ambitious project involves the development of nine 1100 kV transmission lines and ten substations, with an estimated investment of Rs 53,000 crore. Testing facilities are currently being developed by the Central Power Research Institute.
Addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, the government has significantly increased compensation for land acquisition related to transmission lines, boosting tower area compensation to 200% and Right of Way (RoW) corridor compensation to 30% of market land value. Haryana and Delhi have already adopted these updated guidelines to facilitate smoother project execution.
Further reforms include expanding Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) Rules to cover Intra-State Transmission Systems, encouraging private investment and financial discipline, and enabling enhanced renewable energy absorption at the state level.
In operational developments, the first 250 MW unit of the Tehri Pumped Storage Project in Uttarakhand was recently commissioned, adding vital flexibility for peak demand management and renewable integration.
These combined efforts have drastically reduced India’s national energy shortage to just 0.1% as of April 2025, a remarkable improvement from 4.2% in 2013-14, ensuring more reliable and widespread power access across the country.
Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal concluded, “Our government’s goal is to provide uninterrupted power to every household. India is on a steady path to become not only power sufficient but power surplus, leveraging innovation, investment, and sustainable growth.”
