New Delhi:
Delhi simmered with a high of 41 degrees today. The demand for power set a record: 5642 MW, according to BSES, the power distribution company owned by Anil Ambani's Reliance Infra. Last August, the peak demand had touched 5028 MW.
New Delhi has been sweltering in the hottest summer in years - with temperatures regularly hitting the forties Celsius - as it waits for the delayed monsoon rains to arrive.
As a result, power companies have been unable to cope with the soaring demand for electricity to power fans and air conditioners, leaving residents to sweat it out in darkness.
Weeks of power and water shortages have sparked widespread anger and underscored the infrastructure shortages that affect even the wealthier parts of Asia's third-largest economy and hurt its growth.
Gurgaon, a business and industry hub next to New Delhi and home to corporate giants such as Microsoft and Google, has been hit especially hard this hot season.
Technical glitches have disrupted the functioning of two power plants that supply the majority of its electricity.