Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Nov 13, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Nov 13, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Power Rs 10,000 cr set aside to update power plants Our Bureau
Mr R.V. Shahi, Union Secretary of Power (left), with Mr R.K. Sharma, Director (Technical), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd, at the fifth International Infrastructure Business Summit & Expo in Mumbai on Wednesday. — Shashi Ashiwal
Mumbai , Nov. 12 THE Union Power Ministry has set aside Rs 10,000 crore to provide soft loans for renovation and upgradation of power plants. This is part of the Government initiative to help power plants increase generation through its accelerated generation and supply programme, said Mr R.V. Shahi, Union Power Secretary, here today. "Today 106 power plants are operating at plant load factors of 30, 40 and 50 per cent. Their utilisation needs to be improved by upgrading, renovating and modernising these plants," Mr Shahi told delegates at the Power India 2003 seminar held here. He said the average plant load factor of Indian power plants was at 73 per cent in spite of these 100-odd underperforming projects. India will now step up the capacity utilisation of these plants. The cabinet decision taken last year, to set aside a corpus for R&M envisages lending funds at 3-4 per cent below the existing interest rates. Mr Shahi hoped that financial institutions would follow the step taken by the Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation of reducing interest rates to 9 or 9.5 per cent from present levels of 12, 13 and even 14 per cent. He also said FIs should make loan tenures to 12-15 years. As part of the APDRP programme, the Government has sanctioned Rs 16,000 crore for upgrading distribution systems. Mr Shah said the Government was also persuading generating companies to reduce the gestation period of projects. The National Hydro Power Corporation has agreed to reduce project gestation by promising to set up large projects in 5 years (against 8 years) and medium and small-sized projects in 4.5 years to 4 years against 7 to 8 years earlier. India has targeted setting up 1,00,000 MW thermal capacity and 50,000 MW hydro capacities by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan.
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