Several Indian states want more electricity from the Centre. They fear outages as night-time supply tightens.

Rajasthan and Gujarat have asked for extra power. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi have too. Two federal officials told Reuters about the requests.

The problem is at night. Solar power fades after sunset. Battery storage is too small to shift daytime surplus to the evening. Hydropower has also weakened after poor rainfall.

The Centre usually has 14 to 15 gigawatts it can give states in a shortfall. But weaker hydropower has shrunk what is available to share.

Punjab already got extra power. Parts of the state faced outages of up to 14 hours a day in September.

India’s power shortage hit 560 million kilowatt-hours in September. That is the highest since August 2023. Coal generation rose 13.3 per cent. Hydropower fell 20 per cent.

The squeeze shows a deeper issue. Renewable capacity is growing fast. But without storage, meeting demand after dark stays hard.