lectricity is an essential
commodity for  human life, next to  air  and
water. Also, most   of   

the modern  technologies   need   electricity.

 

Electricity
in India:

In India,
electricity was first introduced by the British in Calcutta (1879) to
demonstrate electric bulb. Electric power was introduced in India 10 years
after London and 17 years after that in New York. The
Electricity Act framed in 1910 encouraged many private companies to generate
and supply electricity.

In 1947, the total
installed capacity was only about 1362MW. The power sector evolution in India
began after independence, when the Electricity Supply Act was passed in 1948.
This marked the beginning of the State Electricity Boards (SEBs). The first
State Electricity Board to be set up was West Bengal State Electricity Board in
1956. The SEB’s were unable to meet the growing electricity demand, Under this
act, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was formed for operating the
generating facilities at the Central level. The central sector generating
agencies NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), NHPC (National
Hydro-Electric Power Corporation), and NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of
India Limited were established in 1976, when the Electricity Supply Act was
amended.

In 1989, the NPTC, National
Power Transmission Corporation was established. This is one of the largest
transmission utility in the world. It was set up for construction and
maintenance of grids between states and the five regions. This was one of the major
steps taken to connect the entire country into a single regional grid. This utility was later renamed
POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). In 1991, Regional Load Dispatch
Centre (RLDC’s) were established.

The Ministry of Power
was started to function from 2nd July, 1992. It is primarily responsible for
the development of electrical energy in the country. In 1998, the Electricity
Regulatory Commissions Act was enacted and it established CERC & SERC. Electricity
Act 2003 has been enacted and came into force from 15th June, 2003. The
objective of this act is to introduce competition, protect consumer’s interests
and provide power for all.  

Current Stats:

·      On
31st December, 2013, with the commissioning of 765kV Raichur-Solapur
Transmission line all the five regional grids were interconnected and India
achieves ‘One Nation’-‘One Grid’-‘One Frequency’.

·     
During the year 2017-18, the Peak Demand is
about 164.1GW and the Installed Capacity is 326.8GW (Fig. 1) with generation
mix of Thermal (66.2%), Hydro (13.6%), Renewable (18.2%)
and Nuclear (2.0%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      As
per the report of CEA, the per capita electricity consumption which was a mere 16.3
units in 1947, has increased to 1122 units in 2017

 

Conclusion:

India is
self-sufficient in technical expertise in the field of power systems and this
will also lead the country on the path of sustainable development, a game changer
for converting its status of a developing nation to a developed nation.