New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS): India registered an overall power deficit of 0.7 per cent in the first seven months of the current financial year, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that 681.34 billion units were available against the power demand of 686.09 BU (billion units) during the April-October period, signifying a deficit of 0.7 per cent.

In 2015-16, the power deficit was 2.1 per cent.

The government has set a target of generating 1,178 BU with an overall surplus of 1.1 per cent and peak surplus of 2.6 per cent.

Goyal also said that against the peak power requirement of 1.59 GW in April-October period, as much as 1.56 GW was available, resulting in a peak power deficit of 1.6 per cent. 

In 2015-16, the peak power deficit was 3.2 per cent.

In a separate reply to the Lok Sabha, Goyal said that during April-October period of the current fiscal, 568.85 BU of thermal power was produced in the country.

He also said that the average plant load factor, or the proportion of capacity utilisation, of thermal power plants during April-October was 59.17 per cent, while the PLF for gas based power plants during the same period was 23.59 per cent.