New Delhi, June 11 -- On the afternoon of 30 May, when the northern plains were in the grip of a severe heat wave and breaking many records for maximum temperature readings, India set another record. The country's power utilities successfully met the maximum power demand of 250 gigawatts (GW). On the same day, thermal power generation also climbed to a new peak of 176 GW.

The peak demand exceeded the revised estimates of the government's power sector experts. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) had estimated peak demand at 235 GW for May and to cross the 250 GW level in August and September.

The power sector regulator had previously estimated peak demand for 2024-25 at about 245 GW and for 2025-06 at 260 GW in its electric power sur...