NEW DELHI - India expects annual electricity demand to reach 1,874 billion units during the year ending March 2027, the federal power ministry said in a draft plan, representing an average 7.2% annual growth from demand of 1,320 billion units in 2021/22.

India's power demand grew at a little over 4% during the five years ended 2021/22.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an advisory body to the federal power ministry, said in a draft plan India would add power generation capacity of 165.3 gigawatts (GW) over 5 years ending march 2027, most of which would be renewable energy.

New solar plants would make up 92.6 GW and wind power would make up 25 GW, while coal-fired capacity already under construction would account for 25.8 GW and nuclear plants for another 7 GW, the CEA said.

India will also retire 11 coal-fired plants with a combined capacity of 4.62 GW over five years ending march 2027, the government said.

Still, coal would remain the mainstay of India's power generation and requirement of the fuel for power generation is seen rising 3.8%, according to the draft plan.

Despite being the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter, India's per capita emissions are much lower than most Western countries. India, along with China, accounts for a lion's share of global renewable energy addition.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; editing by David Evans)