POWER CUT BLACKS OUT 600 MILLION IN INDIA

ASIAN giant India has been hit by three MORE huge power grid failures covering half the country, leaving 600million people without electricity in one of the world’s biggest ever blackouts.

Hundreds of trains stalled across the nation, and traffic lights went out, causing widespread jams in New Delhi.

Electric crematoria stopped operating, some with bodies half burnt.

Energy

The massive failure – a day after a similar, but smaller power failure – has raised serious concerns about India’s outdated infrastructure and the government’s inability to meet its huge appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower.

Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde blamed the new collapse on states taking more than their allotted share of electricity.

“Everyone overdraws from the grid. This morning I held a meeting with power officials from the states and I gave directions that states that overdraw should be punished.

The new power failure affected people across a dozen regions – more than the entire population of the European Union.

The blackout was unusual in its reach, although its impact was softened by Indians’ familiarity with frequent blackouts and the widespread use of backup generators for major businesses.

Mr Shinde said workers were trying to get power restored as quickly as possible.

The outages came a day after India’s northern power grid collapsed for several hours. Officials managed to restore power several hours later, but at 1.05pm local time yesterday it collapsed again.