Electricity consumption rose ~3.8% YoY Jul-Mar FY2026.

What it does not prove: Consumption measures electricity actually delivered and billed, not demand suppressed by load management or unaffordable tariffs, so 3.8% is a floor on unmet need rather than a measure of it. Against 2.07% population growth, the nine-month rise leaves per-head consumption up under 2% — recovery from a low base, not a demand boom.

Memory hook: +3.8% in nine months → demand up, barely 1.7% per head

Rebuts the claim: "Power demand is flat because the economy has stalled" — grid consumption grew 3.8% year-on-year in Jul-Mar FY2026, so the binding constraint is supply reliability and price, not absent demand.