Blackout Leaves 600 Million Without Power in India

The collapse of three major electric grids left at least 600 million Indians without power on Tuesday the world's largest blackout ever. It was the second outage in two days for some regions.

Electricity was restored by Wednesday. The cause of the blackout is unclear, but experts say the country's aging power infrastructure is badly in need of updating. Analysts note that an unreliable power grid could dampen foreign interest in opening new operations in India.

The emergency idled factories, snarled traffic and shut down subways and trains that run on electric power. Tata Motors Ltd. says Tuesday's blackout occurred when its factories were "working full steam," thus disrupting production.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. says it escaped most of the disruptions because the company has its own natural gas-fueled power plant that also provided electricity to some suppliers. One of the company's two major assembly plants near New Delhi was already idled in the wake of rioting 10 days ago.