Power stocks defied the broader market trend on Tuesday, rallying sharply with gains of over 9 per cent in intraday trade. Around 12:45 PM, the Nifty Energy index remained firmly in the green, with most of its constituents trading higher. Among individual stocks, NTPC Green Energy emerged as the top gainer, surging 8 per cent to ₹105, followed by Reliance Power and Thermax Limited, advancing around 4.5 per cent each to ₹26.29 and ₹3,811, respectively.
Other stocks like JSW Energy, Tata Power, Adani Power, NLC India, CESC, and GE Vernova, which gained in the range of 2 to 4 per cent.
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The strong buying interest in the power sector stocks was seen even as the benchmark indices fell sharply due to rising tensions in the West Asia. Additionally, investors are betting big on the power sector companies, expecting a rise in electricity demand ahead of the peak summer season.
The benchmark Nifty 50 index was down 227 points, or 0.94 per ecnt, at 23,823.
According to the Ministry of Power, the government has decided to defer maintenance shutdowns at thermal power plants and operationalise additional capacity to ensure around 10,000 MW of extra supply during peak summer demand. The decision was taken last Friday as the government moves to strengthen short-term electricity availability amid global uncertainty.
As per data, this will help augment 10,000 megawatt (MW) of generation, which will more than compensate for the 8,000 MW of generating capacity lost because of disruption in LNG supplies due to the West Asia conflict.
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The Ministry has assured that the country's electricity system remains "robust, well-diversified and adequately positioned" to meet demand, adding that the total installed capacity has crossed 531 gigawatts.
Meanwhile, a report by Axis Securities said that India’s electricity demand reached 425 billing unit in Q4FY26, up 1.9 per cent Y-o-Y and 8 per cent Q-o-Q as the transition to pre-summer heat drove peak demand to 245 GW in January. The brokerage said that it anticipates further demand uptick in Q1FY27.