India Nears Electrification Goal but Unstable Power Likely to Remain

Progress in connecting India with electricity supplies has surpassed targets with 96% of households across the country now connected to the electricity supply. The Indian government had originally planned to connect all households in the country, who wanted an electricity supply, by March 31^st 2019 (Singh, 2019), however, progress is tracking ahead of plan and their sights have turned to completing the project almost two months early by 26^th January.

Of the 29 states in India, just households in Rajasthan remain to be electrified.

Electrification of India has been on the Indian government's agenda for many years, however, logistical challenges have arisen including the wide distribution of Indian villages many of which are situated on difficult terrain making it hard to install electricity supply equipment.

India is renowned for having unstable electricity supplies; experiencing frequent power cuts and voltage sags and with a reliance on coal-powered stations. The average duration of power cuts in India in February 2018 rose by 26% to nearly seven hours per month (Dutta, 2018) and so although the country will now be electrified, the struggle to supply reliable electricity is likely to remain a concern.

Unlike power cuts, voltage sags are short-term reductions in voltage whereby for a few seconds power quality is reduced before returning to a normal level. Voltage sags like power cuts, however, can cause major issues for businesses such as those operating in the medical and healthcare sector, manufacturing and those heavily reliant on computer equipment such as banks, data centres and telecommunications.

For information on protecting your business, no matter where in the world you are, from unstable voltage please complete our fast track enquiry form  and one of our technical team will be delighted to offer you a solution.

References:

Singh, S.  2019. 96% Households Get Electricity Connections [online] 1 January 2019. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/96-households-get-electricity-connections/articleshow/67331418.cms [Accessed 2nd January 2019].

Dutta, S. 2018. Power Cuts Get Longer as Summer Sets In [online] 5 April 2018. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/power-cuts-get-longer-as-summer-sets-in/articleshow/63619434.cms [Accessed 3rd January 2019]