The shortages in India - the world's largest coal consumer after China - follow widespread outages in neighbouring China, which has shut factories and schools to manage the crisis.
The data is publicly available but the analysis provides a first concrete indication of the extent of the problem.Energy supplies are under strain globally as prices surge and demand and supply chains are strained by the recovery of consumption following lockdowns to contain the pandemic.India's power shortfall in the first seven days of October was over 21 times the deficit in the same period last year, and more than four times of that in 2019.
Vaishali Master, a 52-year old architect living in the village of Aleesar located over 50 kilometres from the Rajasthan state capital of Jaipur, said she experienced 12-14 hours of power cuts over the last four days.Reuters Graphics India's southern state of Kerala has asked its citizens to restrict use of electrical appliances such as grinders and dryers after sunset, a senior official in the state's electricity board said.