India’s electricity usage soars to 132.98 billion units despite energy crisis

In April, India's electricity consumption hit a record high of 132.98 billion units, thanks to rising mercury levels in the country.

According to the Indian Ministry of Energy, the country's electricity consumption is likely to grow to 220 gigawatts (GWh) in the next two months as the meteorological department forecasts above-normal maximum temperatures in the west-central, northwest, north and north. -eastern areas.

So it's no surprise that energy-related stocks were the most popular investment choice this year.

Share prices in the energy sector, including power generation and distribution, significantly outperformed benchmark indices.

This year, the shares of Adani Power, Tata Power, Power Grid and NTPC are up between 2 and 175% so far.

Despite the surge, experts are still positive about affiliates, predicting that energy companies would take advantage of the gap between growing electricity demand and the acute energy crisis.

According to AK Prabhakar, Head of Research at IDBI Capital, the coal-scarcity situation would benefit NTPC the most.

NTPC, Tata Power and Torrent Power are all beneficial to him. While electricity demand is likely to remain high through June, he believes Coal India would benefit from peak power demand.

Higher personnel costs, on the other hand, are a concern for Coal India's profit margin.

Due to power outages, certain industrial companies in regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are reportedly considering cuts in production.

While state-owned company Coal India has increased deliveries to power plants by 6.7 metric tons (MT) year on year (YoY), experts are skeptical that the additional output would meet both foreign and local demand.

According to analysts, Coal India is likely to benefit from increased volume growth due to faster deployment of coal for power plants on the domestic front.

Meanwhile, high coal import costs due to geopolitical uncertainty are expected to push up electricity prices.

Traders' energy rates rose to 8.2 rupees per unit in March, from an average of 4 rupees per unit in February.

According to media sources, trade rates could remain above 6 rupees per unit this quarter, the highest in the last five fiscal periods.

Investors witnessed the choppy closing of the markets, with the Nifty 50 and Sensex closing 0.67% lower.

On the other hand, primary markets were buzzing as LIC's massive IPO was subscribed to 2.91 on the last day.