Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India will have a surplus power supply in financial year 2016-'17, reported dna. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha regarding the power situation in the country, Goyal said, "According to the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) for the year 2016-17 published by the Central Electricity Authority [CEA], surplus power is anticipated for 1.1% in terms of energy and 2.6% in terms of peak."

The minister said the sector will record a surplus this year despite a 7.03% rise in demand in the past two years. He said there was a 5.65% growth demand in the past ten years. "Surplus power has been possible because we have been able to unclog the system, and get a lot of projects working that were stuck due to environmental clearances, financial difficulties," Goyal said. The peak hour deficit was 3.2% in financial year 2015-'16, and the deficit during non-peak hours stood at 2.15% during the same period.