Transformer blast, metro halt and sleepless night: What caused Gurgaon’s massive blackout

Key Takeaways

• A transformer blast at a Gurgaon substation plunged vast areas into darkness, highlighting the strain on NCR's power grid amidst extreme heat and record demand.
• Linemen at work on fault correction in Gyan Khand, Ghaziabad.
• GURGAON: A transformer blast at a 220kV substation in Sector 72 plunged large parts of Gurgaon into darkness on Friday evening, exposing the mounting pressure on NCR’s power infrastructure as extreme heat and record electricity demand pushed systems to the brink.The outage, triggered by a technical fault that led to an oil leak and explosion in the current transfer circuit, disrupted supply across at least eight substations, stalled Rapid Metro services and left thousands of residents battling sweltering conditions with no fans, ACs or lifts.
• Officials said the fault occurred around 7.50pm, at a time when Gurgaon was already reeling under intense heat, with temperatures touching 42.7°C.According to Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), the city had just recorded its highest-ever electricity demand a day earlier at 2,372 MW, surpassing previous peaks of 2,332 MW in 2024 and 2,032 MW in 2025.
• Electricity consumption on Thursday alone touched 1.92 crore units.