Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:-

(a)        whether it is a fact that India`s power targets are expected to slip by at least 20 per cent, over the next four years; and

(b)        if so, the steps Government proposes to take to combat power shortages and growing power theft, which are significant bottlenecks to India`s growth plans?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH )

(a):       No, Sir.

(b) :      The following steps have been initiated to improve overall availability of power as well as to prevent power theft;

(i)         Addition of generation capacity of over 78,700 MW in the 11th Plan, out of which projects aggregating 11,322 MW have been commissioned;

(ii)        Development of Ultra Mega Power Projects of 4,000 MW capacity each under tariff based competitive bidding route;

(iii)       Harnessing surplus captive power into the grid;

(iv)       Strengthening and improving of sub-transmission system in the States under Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) as a major steps towards reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses. The AT&C losses which stood at 37.2% on All India level are likely to be reduced to 15% at the end of 11th Plan;

(v)        Strengthening of inter-state and inter-regional transmission capacity for optimum utilization of available power; and

(vi)       Promoting demand side management, energy efficiency and energy conservation measures.