Over the decade from 2015 to 2024, India has witnessed a pronounced and persistent warming trend, with the annual mean temperature increasing from 25.37° Celsius in 2015 to 25.74° Celsius in 2024. The latter stood out as the hottest year on record in the country since nationwide measurements began in 1901.
These were the revelations made in the November, 2025, report, ‘Breaking the Cycle – Can India escape the heat-power demand trap?’ by Climate Trends, a research-based consulting and capacity building initiative, and Climate Compatible Futures, a consulting start-up.
The authors, Manish Ram, Rahul Kumar, Sachin Pratap, and Ujjwala Sahay, mentioned how India’s annual maximum temperatures have increased steadily across most States from 0.1° Celsius to 0.5° Celsius during the last decade. The Indo-Gangetic region witnessed persistent temperature rises, with summer peaks frequently exceeding 45° Celsius and an unprecedented 52.3° Celsius recorded in Mungeshpur (Delhi) in 2024.
Heatwaves
The report stated that central and eastern States such as Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh faced more than 500 heatwave days during the decade, while the north Indian States, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, were identified as the most affected regions, exhibiting the sharpest increases in summer temperature surges.
Traditionally cooler regions such as Uttarakhand (11.2%) and Ladakh (9.1%) also registered the highest percentage increases in annual summer temperatures, while the number of days with temperatures above 40° Celsius rose sharply in the latter half of the decade, with 14 States recording a 15% increase in summer heat intensity in the decade, it said.
Uttarakhand notably witnessed a spike in heatwave frequency in 2024 – 0 in 2023 to 25 in 2024.
Impact on power demand
This persistent warming has directly translated into record-breaking electricity demand, reaching around 250 GW during the summer of 2024, largely due to surging cooling needs across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, the report pointed out. India’s electricity demand rose by 9% during the peak heatwave months of April-June 2024, as compared to April-June 2023.
According to the report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the strongest linkage between temperature and electricity consumption, with peak demand surging from ~14.2 GW (2015) to ~25.5 GW (2024).
“Despite substantial progress in renewable energy deployment, India’s electricity system continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels to meet peak demand during heat-intensive months. Over the decade, installed power capacity increased from 285 GW to 461 GW, a 62% increase – driven primarily by rapid additions in solar (from 5.3 GW to nearly 98 GW) and wind (from 24 GW to 48 GW). However, coal remains the foundational base of India’s power system, growing from 170 GW to 219 GW and still accounting for the majority of generation,” it said.
Fossil-based generation rose from 873 BU to 1,327 BU, sustaining high emissions during summer peaks. In contrast, renewables now represent 46% of installed capacity but contribute only 21% to actual generation, highlighting the need for storage, flexibility, and grid modernisation. This imbalance is most visible during the summer months when the demand for cooling peaks as solar generation declines in the evening.
Key recommendations
Among the key recommendations of the report are integrating climate projections into energy planning, developing district-level demand and vulnerability maps, strengthening rural energy access through decentralised solar microgrids and community cooling centres during heat emergencies, enhancing urban heat preparedness by enforcing cool roof programmes, expanding shaded and green spaces, and establishing solar-powered cooling shelters.
It also called for reforming Heat Action Plans (HAPs) from short-term emergency tools to integrated energy–climate resilience frameworks, embedding electricity demand forecasting, renewable energy adoption, and equity-based resource allocation, and accelerating energy storage and demand flexibility.
INFOBOX
Major highlights:
Over the decade from 2015 to 2024, India has witnessed a pronounced and persistent warming trend.
The annual mean temperature increased from 25.37°C in 2015 to 25.74°C in 2024.
2024 stood out as the hottest year on record for the country since nationwide measurements began in 1901.
The average increase in maximum temperatures has gone up by about 1.41% over the last decade.
Published – November 20, 2025 09:31 pm IST
