Will India standardise AC cooling range? Plan afoot to set 20C minimum temperature — Here's what we know

India is working with companies manufacturing air conditioners (ACs) and appliances to mandate a standardised cooling range in an effort to reduce energy usage, reported the news agency Bloomberg on Tuesday, 10 June 2025. 

The Union Minister of Power, in a press conference on Tuesday, said that the government is planning to fix the AC temperature in the range of 20 degrees celsius to 28 degrees celsius. He highlighted that this will be applicable for ACs at hotels, homes, and even in cars.

“Temperatures would be set in the range of 20C-28C,” said Union Minister of Power, Manohar Lal, cited by the news agency. “This would be done for ACs at homes, hotels and even in cars,” he said.

According to the agency report, this government mandate is still at an initial stage as India plans to focus its efforts to boost energy efficiency amid the rising electricity consumption. 

The demand for electricity has exceeded the power generation capacity, resulting in parts of India not getting power during the scorching summer months of April to June.

Power consumption of Air conditioners

Air conditioner thermostats show that some of these machine temperatures can be reduced to as low as 16 degrees celsius, as per the agency report.

Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal told the news agency that a single air conditioner can account for up to 50 gigawatts of power load. Every one-degree increase in AC temperature leads to a 6 per cent reduction in power consumption, he said. 

Agarwal highlighted that this reduction in electricity consumption would translate to saving 3 gigawatt of peak demand. India has nearly 100 million air conditioning appliances, with almost 15 million added every year to the list.

A power consumption reduction move to boost energy efficiency is likely to save 60 gigawatts in India’s peak electricity demand by 2035. A University of California, Berkeley study cited in the agency report mentioned that this would save ₹7.5 lakh crore of new generation and grid infrastructure. 

“Even if the peak requirement reaches the estimated 270 gigawatts, we are fully prepared to meet it,” said the Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal in the press conference, cited the news agency. 

India's maximum demand hit 250 gigawatts last year and was estimated to climb 8 per cent in 2025. So far, the rains in the nation have kept the electricity demand in check. However, a return of heat waves in June has contributed to the rise of AC consumption.