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India's power usage is 1/3 of China
By agencies
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Thursday, 02 June 2005, 19:30 IST
KOLKATA: Despite growing demand for power in the country, the electricity consumption per capita of India stood at a low 490 Kwh as compared to 1,500 Kwh in China, a study has said.
According to a comparative study on the power sector of the two countries by J P Morgan, "What immediately stands out is that the GDP per capita and consumption per capita of more progressive states of India is comparable to the lesser developed provinces of China."
The two countries, however, had a similarity in that the progress in China and India had been unequal across states with some better off than others.
One of the major reasons for India's low per capita power usage was the increasing share of the less energy intensive services sector in overall GDP and lesser consumption by the industrial sector as compared to China.
"The per capita electricity consumption is very different (in the two countries), primarily driven by the different demand structures," the study said.
While in India, the services sector currently contributed over 50 percent, in case of China it was only 35 percent.
Stating that electricity consumption was strongly related to the level of economic activity, the study said since 1980 said, "While in China the GDP growth outstripped the power consumption growth, the exact opposite happened in India."
However, "We expect these trends to reverse. In India, with services expected to contribute more and more in the GDP, being a less energy-intensive sector, we should see GDP growing as fast as consumption demand," it said.
While the power consumption by the industry sector was markedly different, China's per capita residential demand for power was more in line with those in India, it said.
Among the Indian states, "the states with low GDP per capita and low power consumption per capita include Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and the north eastern states."
On the other hand, the higher GDP per capita states like Punjab, Haryana, the western and southern states had higher power consumption per capita, the study said.