December 11, 2012
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia informed Rajya Sabha that there is an overall energy shortage in the country in various states. The shortage varies from State to State on month to month, day to day and hour to hour basis depending upon the demand and availability of power. There is inadequate supply of coal and gas to power sector.
As per Planning Commission, the capacity addition target of 88,537 MW is planned from conventional sources for the 12th Five Year Plan. With this level of capacity addition, the demand for power on all India basis including the demand of Industrial, Transport, Agriculture and Urban Sector is likely to be met by the terminal year of 12th Plan.
The steps being taken by the Government to bridge the gap between demand and supply of power in the country include the following:
i) Acceleration in generating capacity addition during 12th Plan with a proposed target of 88,537 MW (excluding renewable) against an achievement of 54,964 MW during 11th Plan.
ii) Rigorous monitoring of capacity addition of the on-going generation projects.
iii) Development of Ultra Mega Power Projects of 4000 MW each to reap benefits of economies of scale.
iv) Advance planning of generation capacity addition projects for 12th Plan.
v) Augmentation of domestic manufacturing capacity of power equipment through Joint Ventures.
vi) Coordinated operation and maintenance of hydro, thermal, nuclear and gas based power stations to optimally utilize the existing generation capacity.
vii) Thrust to import of coal by the power utilities to meet the shortfall in coal supplies to thermal power stations from indigenous sources.
viii) Renovation, modernization and life extension of old and inefficient generation units.
ix) Strengthening of inter-state and inter-regional transmission capacity for optimum utilization of available power.
x) Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network as a major step towards loss reduction.
xi) Promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency and demand side management measures.