New Delhi, May 20 -- India's peak power demand hit a new record of 265.44 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday afternoon as severe heatwave conditions persisted in northwest and central India. This is the third consecutive day of record power demand in the country, after 257.37 GW on Monday and 260.45 GW on Tuesday.

The Union power ministry posted on X, "Today, at 1545 hours, peak power demand (solar hours) of 265.44 GW was successfully met. This represents a new high in peak demand met, surpassing yesterday's peak demand of 260.45 GW, which was also successfully met."

Thermal and solar sources were the top contributors, with 165 GW and 57.86 GW of power generation, respectively. Stocks of domestic and imported coal at plants stand at 51.62 mill...