Induction-based cooking is expected to increase demand for electricity in the range of 13 to 27 gigawatts (GW) at the distribution level, Krushna Chandra Panigrahy, Director General at the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) stated at the daily inter-ministerial briefing about the situation in West Asia on Friday (April 10, 2026).

“We are expecting the extra additional demand would be in the range of 13 to 27 GW [depending] on low and high induction cooking adoption,” he said, adding, “We are yet to see, and we are analysing and we are positioning ourselves on a proactive basis.”

Iran-Israel war updates on April 10, 2026

Further, the senior bureaucrat mentioned that the ongoing transition to induction stove-based cooking, experiences a peak in morning and evening hours, with usage patterns varying depending upon different climate zones, cooking habits and socio-economic patterns.

Sales of induction-based cooking stoves have observed an uptick amidst the pressure on cooking-gas cylinders because of the escalating tensions in West Asia. The Hindu had reported March 11 the sales of induction stoves and microwave ovens spiked as much as 50% since the government flagged supply concerns of the bottled cooking gas.

Power plants to defer maintenance by three months

Speaking to reporters at the same briefing, Piyush Singh, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Power, stated to fill in for the gap left by natural gas-based power plants, thermal power plants, with a combined capacity of approximately 10 GW, have deferred their scheduled maintenance by three months.

“Normally, during this period plants go for planned maintenance because they are considered is relatively a period we can put off some of the plants for maintenance,” he stated, adding, “However, considering the requirements and loss of gas-based capacity, we have deferred our plant maintenance by three months, and this has ensured availability of about 10,000 megawatts for the period.”

The senior bureaucrat told reporters that at present gas-based power represented 1.4% of the total requirement of the country. “[It is] because of that there was no major impact on overall availability of power in the country,” he stated.

Plans to add more than 22 GW energy in next three months

Mr. Singh told reporters that in the next three months, India has plans to add more than 22 GW of power capacity. This is inclusive of 3.5 GW of thermal power capacity, 10 GW of solar power, 2.5 GW wind, 0.75 GW hydro, battery-energy storage system of 1.9 GW, hybrid (that is, solar and wind combined) of 3.47 GW and pump storage of 0.25 GW.

“With the addition of these capacities, our [power] availability would also go up,” he mentioned.