Chapter 3 Hydro Power Generation in India – Status and Challenges

Power generation in India has come a long way from just about 1. 3 GW at the time of independence in 1947 to more than 416 GW as on the end of financial year 2022-23 (April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023), reflecting an increase of more than 300 times. As a part of this generation, the hydro-power during this period of more than 75 years has increased almost 100 times from less than 0.5 GW to about 52 GW.

The annual electricity generation in India has increased from just about 805 BU during the year 2009-10 to more than 1624 MU during the year 2022-23 (Figure 3.1) and it has been estimated to touch about 2280 BU by the year 2029-30, as per the projections of 20th Electric Power Survey (EPS) of India conducted by Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The peak power demand of India is also growing which touched around 216 GW during the year 2022-23 and is projected to increase to about 334 GW by the year 2029-30.