India produced approximately 120.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity last month, which is up month-on-month by 8.4 billion kilowatt hours (8%) but down year-on-year by 3.8 billion kilowatt hours (-3%). It is normal for production to rise on a month-on-month basis in March. More significant is the year-on-year contraction. While India’s electricity production previously increased on a year-on-year basis during eleven of the prior twelve months, electricity production last month was significantly affected by a contraction in hydropower production.
Hydropower output totaled approximately 7.7 billion kilowatt hours. This is down month-on-month by 700,000 kilowatt hours (-8%) and is down year-on-year by 2.9 billion kilowatt hours (-27%). This has marked the largest year-on-year contraction seen this decade.
Coal-derived electricity generation totaled approximately 108.3 billion kilowatt hours. This is up month-on-month by 9.1 billion kilowatt hours (9%) but is down year-on-year by 400 million kilowatt hours. The contraction is a surprise and we will be monitoring this market closely. Previously, coal derived-electricity generation increased on a year-on-year basis during ten of the prior twelve months.
