India power sector to face 26 GW load from AI data centers by FY 2031-32: ministry

India's Ministry of Power, in a written reply to the Parliament on July 27, projected an additional load of 26.3 gigawatts from artificial intelligence data centers by fiscal year 2031-32 (April-March), which is expected to be integrated into the grid and be primarily met through renewable energy capacity.

India's peak power demand is estimated to be 289 GW in FY 2026-27, up 17.96% year over year, and reach 364 GW by FY 2030-31 and over 380 GW by FY 2031-32, according to the ministry.

Shripad Naik, the minister of state for power, shared that the development of transmission infrastructure was being undertaken in a phased manner to cater to increasing electricity demand and planned generation capacity addition, including renewable energy.

"Grid modernization measures, including deployment of static synchronous compensator, battery energy storage systems, synchronous condensers and other advanced grid support technologies are also being planned to enhance grid reliability, flexibility, and facilitate integration of renewable energy," Naik said.

There are 154 interstate transmission system projects under construction in the country, consisting of 39,792 circuit kilometers of transmission lines and 401,510 MVA of transformation capacity, he said. Meanwhile, for intrastate transmission system projects, 30,387 ckm of transmission lines and 118,194 MVA of transformation capacity are being built, Naik added.

India is also committed to meeting its net-zero goal by 2070, Naik said, noting that the country met its nationally determined contribution goal of 50% of its installed electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources five years ahead of the target year of 2030.

This comes as India also set a target of increasing the share of natural gas in its primary energy mix from 6%-7% to 15% by 2030.

In a separate response to the country's parliament on July 27, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that it had expanded piped natural gas connectivity to households, commercial establishments and industries.

The implementation of the PNG drive led to a significant acceleration in PNG domestic connections across the country, resulting in an addition of 1,337,911 active PNG domestic connections from Jan. 1-June 30, it said.

In another reply on July 27, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that after completing the 12/12A city gas distribution bidding round, PNGRB authorized entities for the development of the CGD network in 309 geographical areas covering 683 districts and the entire mainland.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the September JKM, the benchmark price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia, at $21.291/million British thermal units July 27, down 4.05% from the previous close. It assessed the LNG West India Marker, or WIM, for September at $21.041/MMBtu on July 27, at 25 cents/MMBtu discount to the September JKM assessment.