India, Oct. 16 -- Madhya Pradesh, a power surplus state, will take additional power from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to ensure uninterrupted supply in rural areas amid a widening gap between demand and supply. Power demand in the state surged by over 5,000 MW on Thursday. Demand touched 17,313 MW this year, compared to 11,874 MW last year.

In agriculture alone, demand rose to 3,700 MW from 1,752 MW last year.

However, the power generated on October 15 was only 7,536 MW (3,642 MW from thermal, 2,091 from hydel and 1,803 from renewable).

The demand, which was expected to increase in November, rose a fortnight earlier due to deficient rainfall causing low hydel generation, coal shortages, and technical snags at thermal plants, said a senior ...