India will not have a power deficit this year for the first time in history, according to the latest data from the Central Electricity Authority. Officials said this is an outcome of the Narendra Modi government's initiatives to resolve issues such as fuel scarcity, reported the Economic Times.

India will have a power surplus of 3.1% during peak hours and 1.1% during non-peak hours during 2016-'17, the report added. The peak-hour deficit was at -3.2% last year, while non-peak-hour deficit was at -2.1%. The deficit was as high as 13% about 10 years ago.

According to the data, the country will have more electricity than required from June. Half the states will have surplus power, while others may have a deficit in varying proportions. Southern and western India will have a surplus of 3.3% and 6.9%, respectively, and the eastern, north-eastern and northern regions will have a deficit of 10.3%, 8.3% and 1.8%, respectively. However, the data does not take into account that state utilities often choose to black out areas to reduce their losses, or because of a technical failure, the report said.

The government's data comes days after a joint study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that India's power deficit may rise from 2.6% of peak demand in 2015-'16 to 5.6% in 2021-'22.