"Power upgrades helped Delhi avoid blackouts": Delhi Power Minister Ashish Sood
New Delhi, May 27
Delhi Power Minister Ashish Sood on Wednesday said that the power cuts people faced last summer were due to system issues.
He said that since then, the Delhi government has been working to upgrade the electricity setup, and because of these measures, the city has avoided major blackouts this year even amid intense summer heat.
To further strengthen the electricity network, the government has prepared a detailed Power Master Plan, he said.
Sood added that the impact of these upgrades is already visible. While Delhi's peak power demand of 8,600 megawatts was recorded in late June last year, the city met the same demand much earlier this year, in the month of May.
The Minister admitted there is still room for improvement, but he promised that the power grid will get much stronger over the next two years. The ultimate goal of this project is to completely eliminate power cuts across the capital.
To show how much the demand has grown, Sood shared some numbers. On May 25 this year, Delhi used 168 million units of electricity, a massive jump from the 110 million units used on the exact same day last year. This happened because the temperature on that day hit a scorching 43°C, compared to a much cooler 32°C the year before.
Finally, Sood pointed out that power management has vastly improved. This year, no neighbourhood in Delhi had to deal with a power cut lasting over two hours. In comparison, there were 147 instances of long blackouts exceeding two hours during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Delhi's peak power demand surged to 8,439 MW on Monday, the highest ever recorded in May and the highest so far this year, as an early and intense summer pushes consumption well above previous years.
According to the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) data, the capital has crossed the 8,000 MW mark four times in just six days, with BSES discoms meeting the load without disruption. SLDC now projects demand may breach 9,000 MW this summer, topping the 2025 all-time high of 8,656 MW.
"Delhi's peak power demand has seen a sharp rise in May 2026 compared to previous years, reflecting the impact of an intense and early summer," according to SLDC data shared in the release.
— ANI
Reader Comments
"I appreciate the upgrades, but why did it take a crisis to act? The minister admits there's room for improvement. Meanwhile, my monthly electricity bill has skyrocketed. They should also cap tariffs during extreme summers. Common man is bearing the brunt of both heat and high costs. 😔"
"From 8,600 MW to 8,439 MW already in May, and expected to hit 9,000 MW soon! Delhi's growth is unstoppable. Good to see SLDC and discoms stepping up. But we need more solar plants and battery storage to avoid future crises. The Power Master Plan should prioritize green energy. 🌞"
"Interesting to see Delhi's progress. In the U.S., we have rolling blackouts in California during heatwaves too. It's a global challenge. But the 2-hour limit on outages is impressive. Hope the next two years bring even more reliability. Would love to see a comparison with other Indian cities. 📊"
"As a resident of Lajpat Nagar, I can confirm no long power cuts this year. But the voltage fluctuates sometimes. The grid needs to handle peak loads better. Still, credit where it's due – 147 instances of >2-hour cuts to zero is a huge jump. Glad the government is serious about this. 🙏"
"Good initiative but why didn't they plan for this earlier? Every summer Delhi suffers. The jump from 110 million units to 168 million units in one year shows how fragile our infrastructure was. Let's hope the Power Master Plan includes substations in unauthorised
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