Overview
- India’s power system supplied a peak of 256.1 GW at 3:38 pm on April 25 without any nationwide shortfall and kept exports to neighbouring countries flowing.
- Solar delivered about 57 GW at the peak, or roughly one fifth of supply, after reaching around 81 GW at 12:30 pm as rooftop and utility plants ramped up in the midday sun.
- Coal plants provided about 187 GW and gas units added around 9.6 GW at the peak, reflecting heavy use of thermal backups when demand spiked in the afternoon.
- Officials credit about 65 GW of new capacity added in FY 2025–26 plus tighter day‑ahead planning and real‑time coordination across national, regional, and state grid control rooms.
- An unusually early heatwave drove the surge and could push demand higher in May, with the government projecting a seasonal peak near 270 GW and calling for more storage and flexible resources as solar now tops 150.26 GW of capacity and non‑fossil sources exceed half of installed power.