Domestic electricity demand will increase by seven percent in the current financial year: Fitch

New Delhi. Domestic electricity demand will increase by seven percent on an annual basis in the current financial year. Rating agency Fitch Ratings has made this estimate. The agency said in a report that it is also expected that payment cycles will soon become even shorter.

“Fitch Ratings expects India’s power demand to grow by about seven per cent in FY 2023-24 due to strong industrial activity,” the report said. Whereas in the first half of the current financial year, electricity demand has increased by 7.1 percent.

There was a 9.5 percent increase in electricity demand in the financial year 2022-23. “Due to strong power demand, the average capacity utilization (PLF) of thermal power plants should remain above 60 per cent.” The report further said that regular payments under the Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) rules of the Central Government have brought down the total dues from power distribution companies (DISCOMs) to power generation companies (GENCOs) to about Rs 70,000 crore as of June, At the time of bringing LPS in 2022, it was Rs 1.3 lakh crore.