INDIA’S ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION DATA SHOWS ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19

The Payne Institute Earth Observation Group research provides the data for this piece on how COVID-19 has disrupted economic activity. Quantifying this disruption is challenging. Traditional national account estimates, the official government measure for economic activity, are not very helpful for that. To monitor economic activity in times like these, one needs instead measures that are available at higher frequency and higher spatial granularity- for example at the district level.  In India, the amount of electricity used (measured as total consumption) and the intensity of lights in the evening (measured as lights per area) are useful proxy indicators. Electricity consumption is measured daily at the state-level and changes reveal information about the economy.  August 11, 2020.