Power capacity sets new record this financial year

India has set a new record by crossing 10,000 Mw of capacity addition in a single financial year since Independence.

By the end of 2010-11, total capacity addition of 15,000 Mw would be possible, announced Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

Shinde told Business Standard: "It is a record of sorts as during earlier five-year plans, the country has not crossed beyond 5,500 Mw in a financial year. This is for the first time after Independence that capacity addition in a single year has reached the five-digit figure. In the last financial year, 9,586 Mw capacity was added. However, in the current financial year, we have crossed 10,050 Mw and it is expected that by the end of March 2011, it will reach 15,000 Mw."

Shinde, who would complete five years as power minister on January 29, said the increase in capacity addition was possible mainly due to continuous monitoring, placement of orders in time and better coordination with various departments for speedy clearances.

Stakeholders were being sensitised towards enlarging the vendor base so as to meet the balance of plant requirement.

During the 11th Plan, a reduced target of 62,374 Mw has been fixed for capacity addition. So far, 32,302 Mw target has been achieved, 150 per cent of total capacity addition during the 10th Plan, Shinde informed.

He said about 10,000 Mw of captive power projects are expected to be commissioned by the end of March 2012. Thereby, capacity addition would cross 70,000 Mw, another record since Independence.

India had added 21,180 Mw in the 10th plan, 19,119 Mw in the 9th plan and 16,423 Mw in the 8th plan.

Shinde hoped: "The formation of six new joint venture companies - L&T-MHI, Bharat Forge-Alstom, Ansaldo-GB Power, Toshiba-JSW, Thermax with Babcock & Wilcox and BGR with Hitachi for power equipment manufacturing would help achieve high-capacity targets in the coming years."

Shinde said targets fixed for rural electrification - Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana under the Bharat Nirman programme for 100,000 un-electrified villages and free connections to 175,000 Below Poverty Level (BPL) households - would be achieved by 2012.

So far, 90,593 un-electrified villages have been electrified and 14.3 million BPL families provided free connections.