Power generation falls 64% short of Q4 target

NEW DELHI: India's power crisis appears to be getting bigger . The government has once again missed the target for ramping up generation capacity , meeting only 36% of the goal set for the quarter ended March 31.The tardy progress may force the government to revise downward the target for the 2011-12 and may also impact the 12th five-year plan period starting April 2012. The government had reduced the 11th plan target to 62,347 mw from over 78,000 mw.

China, in contrast, ramped up its generation capacity by 10% in 2010-11 to 962,190 mw and plans to add 100,000 mw every year for the next five years. The power ministry, however, claimed that the "overall achievement" of planned generation capacity addition in a year was the "highest-ever" at 12,160 mw. Some 9,585 mw was added in 2009-10 . Cumulative addition to generation capacity for the 11th plan period has been 34,462 mw against a target of 62,347 mw.

Power secretary P Uma Shankar told a recent Planning Commission review meeting that only 2,430 mw generation capacity was added in the fourth quarter of 2010-11 against a target of 6,691 mw. What is more alarming is the fact that but for the third unit of the Wardha-Warora plant in Maharashtra, which was not part of the 2010-11 plan target, the actual capacity addition would have been even lower. The private sector project contributed 135 mw.

Besides, five units that contributed 1,195 mw capacity in the quarter under review were actually projects that had been carried over from the previous quarter after missing the goal post. Some 22 units aggregating a capacity of 5,591 mw that were included in the fourth quarter target did not get switched on. This means that capacity addition in the December 2010-March 2011 period came only from the carried over projects.

Central sector projects contributed the most to the lag, with 10 units aggregating 2,354 mw included in the target . The state sector list had eight units aggregating 1,695 mw and four units in the private sector with a combined capacity of 1,542 mw. In addition , some 26 units aggregating 4,868 mw that were to be commissioned in the first three quarters of 2010-11 could not be commissioned even in the fourth quarter. These include three units in the central sector aggregating 1,250 mw, 11 units totaling 2,472 mw and 12 units of 1,145 mw in the private sector.
source-times of india

stevenson
management trainee-fundamental analyst
DENIP Consultants Pvt Ltd.