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NSO releases Energy Statistics India 2026

The 33rd edition compiles reserves, capacity, production and consumption across every energy commodity in one integrated dataset.

What happened

The National Statistics Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), released its annual publication "Energy Statistics India 2026" on 30 March 2026, hosted on www.mospi.gov.in.
This is the 33rd edition of the report, which assembles a single integrated dataset on reserves, installed capacity, production, consumption and import/export of all energy commodities — coal, lignite, petroleum, natural gas and renewable energy.
The volume carries an Energy Balance table, a Sankey diagram of energy flows, and a set of Sustainable Energy Indicators aligned to international standards.
This year's edition widened coverage to credit flow to domestic energy sectors and world energy statistics, and closed earlier data gaps such as coal consumed through e-Auction, imported non-coking coal, and sub-sectoral electricity use within industry drawn from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).
For the first time it incorporated industry-wise distribution of high-speed diesel (HSD) through retail/reseller channels and International Aviation and Marine Bunker data into India's domestic supply and consumption accounts.
It also standardised end-use sectors to bring harmonisation across the consumption statistics of all energy commodities.

Background & context

"Energy Statistics India" is the country's flagship annual energy account, compiled by the NSO inside MoSPI. The NSO is the apex body for the official statistical system; it sits within MoSPI and was constituted to bring the erstwhile Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under a single statistical wing. MoSPI itself runs two arms — the Statistics Wing (the NSO) and the Programme Implementation Wing — and is the nodal ministry for the country's statistical standards, the national accounts, the Consumer Price Index, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

"Energy Statistics India" is the successor to the older "Energy Statistics" series and is part of MoSPI's family of recurring statistical compendiums, which also includes "Energy Statistics India" alongside subject volumes such as the EnviStats series and the IIP releases. Because it is a compendium rather than a single-indicator index, its job is recall: it gives one harmonised place to read India's reserves, capacity, generation and consumption for every fuel, so that the figures across coal, oil, gas and renewables are computed on a comparable basis. The 2026 volume is notable for pulling credit flow, bunker fuels and e-Auction coal into that single frame for the first time.

The release lands amid a wider energy-data and reform moment at MoSPI and in the power sector. On the same day MoSPI also announced AI integration into its eSankhyiki data portal and an AI-enabled chatbot on a revamped website, signalling a push to make these datasets more discoverable. In parallel, Parliament-reply releases of the same date covered grid stability under rising renewable penetration, DISCOM financial sustainability and battery energy storage — the operational counterpart to the supply-side picture this compendium quantifies.

For Prelims

Publisher: National Statistics Office (NSO), under MoSPI — the same office that compiles GDP/national accounts, CPI, PLFS and the IIP.
Edition: 33rd annual edition; an integrated dataset spanning reserve, capacity, production, consumption and import/export of all energy commodities.
Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES): grew 2.95% in FY 2024-25 to 9,32,816 KToE (Kilo Tonnes of Oil Equivalent).
Renewable energy potential: ~47,04,043 MW as on 31 Mar 2025 — solar holds the highest share (~71%, ~33,43,378 MW), followed by wind (~11%, 11,63,856 MW) and large hydro (1,33,410 MW).
Geographic concentration: over 70% of total RE potential lies in six states — Rajasthan (23.70%), Maharashtra (14.26%), Gujarat (9.10%), Andhra Pradesh (9.1%), Karnataka (8.59%) and Madhya Pradesh (8.09%).
RE installed capacity: rose from 90,134 MW (Mar 2016) to 2,29,346 MW (Mar 2025) — a CAGR of ~10.93%.
RE generation: climbed from 1,89,314 GWh (FY16) to 4,16,823 GWh (FY25), CAGR ~9.17%.
Per-capita energy consumption: up from 15,296 MJ/person (FY16) to 18,096 MJ/person (FY25), CAGR ~1.89%.
T&D losses: fell from ~22% (FY16) to ~17% (FY25), reflecting better grid utilisation.
Coal dominance: coal (incl. lignite) remains the single largest supply source — energy supply from it rose from 3,87,761 KToE (FY16) to 5,52,315 KToE (FY25).
Total Final Consumption (TFC): rose 30.41% from 4,69,212 KToE (FY16) to 6,08,578 KToE (FY25).
Credit flow to the energy sector: grew over six-fold, from ₹1,688 crore (2021) to ₹10,325 crore (2025).

The unit to remember — KToE. Energy supply and consumption here are measured in Kilo Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (KToE), a common unit that converts every fuel to the energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, so coal, gas and electricity can be summed on one scale. Per-capita energy is given in Megajoules per person; renewable potential and installed capacity are in Megawatt (capacity), while generation is in Gigawatt-hours (energy delivered over time).

TPES vs TFC — do not confuse them. Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) is the energy available to the economy at the supply boundary (production plus imports minus exports and stock change), measured before conversion losses. Total Final Consumption (TFC) is what end-use sectors actually consume after the transformation, transmission and distribution losses are taken out. The gap between the two FY25 figures — about 9,32,816 KToE supplied versus 6,08,578 KToE finally consumed — is essentially those conversion and network losses, which is why the falling T&D loss number matters.

Potential vs installed capacity — the classic trap. The ~47 lakh MW renewable figure is estimated potential, not capacity in the ground. Actual RE installed capacity is ~2,29,346 MW (Mar 2025). A statement claiming India "has installed" ~47 lakh MW of renewables would be wrong — that number is the assessed resource, dominated on paper by solar. Also note the solar potential leap (from ~7.49 lakh MW in FY24 to ~33.43 lakh MW in FY25) reflects a re-assessment of resource potential, not a one-year build-out.

What this publication is NOT. It is not an index or a ranking — it carries no single composite "energy score" and ranks no countries. It is a statistical compendium. It is not produced by the Ministry of Power, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) or the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), even though it compiles their data; the publisher is the NSO under MoSPI. It is also distinct from the BP/Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy and from the IEA's World Energy Outlook — those are global products, while this is India's official national account, though the 2026 edition now folds in some world energy statistics for context.

The MoSPI compendium set it belongs to. For "how many of these does MoSPI publish" questions, hold the family together: the national accounts (GDP), the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the EnviStats / Social and Environmental Statistics volumes, and this Energy Statistics India series. All are NSO/MoSPI products; the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), by contrast, is published by the Office of the Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry — a common pairing trap.

For UPSC: Energy Statistics India 2026 = the NSO/MoSPI 33rd-edition compendium. RE potential ~47 lakh MW (solar ~71% share), but installed RE capacity only ~2,29,346 MW; six states hold 70%+ of the potential (Rajasthan leads at 23.70%); TPES grew 2.95% to 9,32,816 KToE; coal still dominates supply; T&D losses fell from ~22% to ~17%.

Why it matters

A single, internally consistent energy account is the precondition for credible energy policy. Until fuels are converted to a common unit (KToE) and end-use sectors are standardised, figures from coal, petroleum, gas and renewables cannot be added or compared, and the country cannot honestly measure its energy intensity, import dependence or decarbonisation progress. By harmonising sectoral end-use statistics and closing gaps like e-Auction coal, imported non-coking coal and bunker fuels, the 2026 edition tightens the denominator behind every per-capita, intensity and emissions calculation that follows.

The substance the numbers reveal is a two-speed transition. On one side, renewables are scaling fast — installed RE capacity nearly tripled over a decade (CAGR ~10.93%), generation rose at ~9.17% CAGR, and the assessed potential is vast and solar-heavy. On the other, coal still supplies the largest single share and its absolute supply kept rising to 5,52,315 KToE, because rising per-capita consumption and a growing economy lift total demand even as the clean share grows. The falling T&D losses (22% to 17%) and the six-fold jump in energy-sector credit flow point to a system that is both expanding and becoming more efficient at moving and financing energy. The heavy geographic concentration of RE potential in six states also flags a grid and inter-state transmission challenge: the resource sits where the demand often is not, which is precisely why the same-day power-sector releases on grid stability, DISCOM finances and battery storage matter.

For Mains

Substantiation

The single best data anchor for India's energy-transition arc: TPES 9,32,816 KToE (+2.95%); RE capacity up from 90,134 MW (2016) to 2,29,346 MW (2025), CAGR ~10.93%; RE generation CAGR ~9.17%; per-capita energy 15,296 → 18,096 MJ/person — hard numbers to support any growth-vs-sustainability argument.

Exemplification

Use the "potential vs installed" gap (~47 lakh MW assessed vs ~2.29 lakh MW built) and the six-state concentration to illustrate how India's renewable resource is real but geographically and infrastructurally constrained.

Problematisation

Coal's absolute supply still rising (3,87,761 → 5,52,315 KToE) even as the clean share grows shows the structural difficulty of decoupling growth from fossil energy — a credible "challenge" paragraph for any energy-security or climate answer.

Way-forward

Falling T&D losses (22% → 17%) and a six-fold rise in energy-sector credit flow point to the levers — grid efficiency, transmission to RE-rich states, and financing — that an answer can recommend scaling.

Position

The state's stance of building a harmonised, internationally-comparable energy account (KToE, Energy Balance, Sankey, Sustainable Energy Indicators) is itself evidence of data-driven governance in the energy domain.

Deploys into: GS3.9 infrastructure & energy (energy security, the renewable transition, grid and DISCOM reform) and GS3.1 economy (growth vs energy intensity, import dependence). L2 — supplies the data, examples and problem-framing for energy and sustainability answers.

Related: Energy & statistics hub · Economy & Finance · This week's cards — see also the same-day MoSPI eSankhyiki AI-portal release and the power-sector replies on grid stability, DISCOM finances and battery storage.

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation · 2026-03-30 · PRID 2246819 · PIB source ↗