The maximum electricity demand in the country has reached a record level for the third consecutive day on Wednesday (20 May 2026) at 3:45 pm. The Ministry of Power said, the highest demand for electricity in the country reached 265.44 gigawatt (GW) on May 20, which was successfully fulfilled by the government without any interruption. This demand for electricity is a new record so far. Just a day before this, the demand for electricity had reached 260.45 GW, which was met. Today’s demand has left yesterday’s record behind.

Electricity record broken for the third consecutive day

The maximum power demand in the country reached an all-time high of 260.45 GW on Tuesday. The main reason for this was the increasing use of cooling devices like air conditioners (ACs) and desert coolers amid the scorching heat. According to the ministry, the maximum demand of 257.37 GW was recorded at 3:42 pm on Monday (18 May 2026) and it was met. This was more than the previous record demand of 256.1 GW recorded on April 25, 2026.

Electricity demand may reach 270GW

The ministry estimates that the country’s maximum electricity demand this summer may reach 270 GW. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heat wave this week in large parts of north-west and central India where the temperature at many places reached more than 45 degrees Celsius on Monday.

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No respite from heatwave yet: IMD

According to the Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of heat wave in some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi from Monday to May 24, while in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, heat wave and severe heat wave conditions may occur from Tuesday. With increasing heat in Delhi, the maximum demand for electricity reached a record 7,776 MW on Tuesday. This is the highest demand so far this summer season.

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