Question : TARGET FOR POWER GENERATION

(a) the hydroelectric and thermal power in megawatts targeted to be generated in the country during the Ninth Five Year Plan;

(b) whether adequate funds have been allocated to achieve the targets;

(c) if not, whether the Government have sought foreign assistance for this purpose;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether discussions have been started with foreign agencies;

(f) if so, the details thereof;
(g) whether the Government propose to encourage the captive power plants in the country for the betterment of industrial sector; and
(h) if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER ( SHRIMATI JAYAWANTI MEHTA )

(a) : The Planning Commission had envisaged a capacity addition target of 40,245.2 MW during the 9th Plan. This comprises of 9819.7 MW from Hydro, 29545.5 MW from Thermal and 880 MW from Nuclear.

(b) : The Planning Commission has allocated an outlay of Rs. 1,24,526.41 crore for power sector during 9th Plan. This comprises Rs. 53,299.41 crore in Central Sector and the balance for the State Sector. -

(c) to (f) : With the objective of mobilizing additional resources for capacity addition, the legislation governing the electricity sector was amended in 1991 allowing private investors to set up power projects in the country. The Government also enacted the Electricity Laws (Amendment) Act, 1998 to allow for inflow of private capital in the transmission sector. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has given techno-economic clearance to 57 private power projects and out of these, 50 have foreign equity participation. In addition, some projects are also assisted by multilateral/bilateral agencies like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JBIC.

(g) & (h) : The State Governments have been requested to encourage setting up of captive generation plants and to create an institutional mechanism which may allow captive power units an easy entry into the power sector by quickly clearing captive power applications, giving the developers a rational tariff for purchase of surplus power by the grid and third party access for direct sale of power to other industrial units.