• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

To generate at least 4,000 MW of electricity

(From left) The Minister for Power, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, the EU Commissioner for Energy, Mr Andris Peibalgs, and the FICCI President, Mr Saroj Kumar Poddar, at a conference in the Capital on Thursday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , April 6

The Centre plans to award five of the proposed `ultra mega' power projects in the next 12 months to help ease a shortfall caused by faster economic growth, the Union Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, has said. Allaying fears of high costs, Mr Shinde said the power from these projects would be viable.

"The cost of the projects will be lower due to the economies of scale," Mr Shinde said at a European Union-India Business Conference on energy in New Delhi on Thursday. The Government has already chosen the sites in five states for the plants, each of which will generate at least 4,000 megawatts of electricity, he told reporters.

Mr Shinde said the large power plants will help meet the rising demand for electricity at affordable rates. The pace of economic growth accelerated to 8.1 per cent last fiscal year, from 7.5 per cent the previous year, according to government estimates. India's peak power deficit, or the gap between supply and demand during evening hours, was 12.5 per cent in the 10 months ended February 28.

State-owned Power Finance Corporation has set up subsidiaries to conduct preliminary studies and obtain government approval for the planned projects, Mr Shinde said. These subsidiaries will be taken over by the companies that eventually win the bid to manage the projects, he said. The five power plants will be awarded on the basis of tariff-based competitive bidding, he said.

More Stories on : Power

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Infrastructure development in AP

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line