(31 Jul 2012) STORYLINE:
India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country on Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed.
The power outage left more than 600 million (m) people without government-supplied electricity in one of the world's biggest-ever blackouts.
Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in the capital, New Delhi.
The massive failure - a day after a similar, but smaller power failure - has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet its huge appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower.
India's power minister blamed the new collapse on states taking more than their allotted share of electricity.
The new power failure affected people across more than a dozen states - 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 of backup generators for major businesses.
New Delhi's Metro rail system, which serves about 1.8 million (m) people a day, immediately shut down for the second day in a row.
Police said they managed to evacuate Delhi's busy Rajiv Chowk station in under half an hour before closing the shutters.
"I have been waiting for the last hour for the metro and the story is being repeated," said one local commuter. "Yesterday there was a major breakdown and again, today, there is a major breakdown. There is nobody to give an explanation."
"We are already struggling with traffic jams everywhere," added another. "Traffic is moving very slow and the metro, which was our only support, is also turning out to be of no use and it isn't helping us."
India's demand for electricity has soared along with its economy in recent years, but utilities have been unable to meet the growing needs.
India's Central Electricity Authority reported power deficits of more than 8 percent in recent months.
The power deficit was worsened by a weak monsoon that lowered hydroelectric generation and kept temperatures higher, further increasing electricity usage as people seek to cool off.
But any connection to the grid remains a luxury for many.
One-third of India's households do not even have electricity to power a light bulb, according to last year's census.
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