India’s electricity demand has surged to record levels, crossing 265 GW this week, while coal inventories at thermal power plants remain sufficient.

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India’s peak power demand this week has been breaking records, surpassing 265 GW on Wednesday, yet the country’s coal stocks remain comfortable. Thermal power plants hold 51.98 million tonnes of reserves against a daily consumption of roughly 3.10 million tonnes.Of this, domestic coal-based (DCB) plants with 203 GW of installed capacity have 49.3 mt in stock, with a daily requirement of 2.9 mt. Imported coal-based (ICB) plants (18.78 GW capacity) have stocks of 2.7 mt, with a daily requirement of 1.96 lakh tonnes.Sources said that in FY27, TPPs might consume up to 850 mt, up from 808 mt in FY26. The Power Ministry made a demand of 906 mt of coal for FY27 to the Coal Ministry, similar to the FY26 demand.According to Coal Ministry data, TPPs consumed a total of 852.5 mt of coal in FY26, including 808.8 mt of domestic supplies and 45.4 mt of imports.Record-breaking peak demand during solar hoursIndia’s peak power demand during solar hours hit a record 260 GW on Tuesday, surpassing the 257 GW record made on Monday. However, the peak demand surpassed 265 GW on Wednesday, setting a new record.“Today [Wednesday], at 1545 hours, peak power demand [solar hours] of 265.44 GW was successfully met. This represents a new high in peak demand met, surpassing yesterday’s peak demand [solar hours] of 260.45 GW, which was also successfully met,” said the Power Ministry on X.Coal Ministry sources said that there is sufficient coal available to meet the country’s rising power demand. Coal accounted for almost 70 per cent of generation over the last three days, as peak demand set new records.Delhi records highest-ever power demand in 2026The national capital also recorded a record electricity demand on Wednesday, surpassing that of Monday. Delhi’s peak power demand (daytime) touched 8,039 megawatts (MW) at 1535 hours, the highest on record so far in 2026.Delhi Discoms BSES and Tata Power DDL successfully met the demand. While BSES discoms successfully met the peak power demand of 3,665 MW and 1,753 MW in their respective areas, Tata Power DDL met the season’s peak demand of 2,249 MW.Published on May 21, 2026