India's power consumption to double by 2020: KPMG

Mumbai: Electricity consumption in India, currently at some 600TWh annually, is set to double by next decade, surpassing Russian consumption levels.

According to a power industry research, Think BRIC! by KPMG's global advisory practice, in order to supply this extra electricity, total generating capacity would have to jump by 90 GW, to 241GW, with an increased emphasis on nuclear, clean coal and renewables, including solar and small-hydro.

The research finds that while the state and central governments have initiated reforms, legislation designed to supply electricity to all consumer groups, conservative elements, social programmes, systemic weaknesses and internal contradictions frequently combine to stifle progress.

Additionally factors like increasing economic activity, wealth and population, an improved standard of living and infrastructure developments are all expected to underline a continuous increase in demand for power in the next decade.

''A rural electrification programme in the 1980s brought electricity to 200,000 villages for the first time," says Manish Agarwal, executive director, KPMG in India, said. "Generation capacity hit 150GW in 2006, a 40-per cent increase on the 2000 figure, after reforms in 2003 initiated a much-needed restructuring of the power sector. However one respondent of our survey estimated that at least 500 million Indians still have no access to electricity.''

Agarwal says, ''With per capita GDP rising by about 8 per cent per year in 2000 – 2008, the growth in energy demand is enormous; in particular regarding electricity. While private sector investment in generation is increasing, India could face challenges until 2020 to comfortably meet its demand.''