Singling out the power shortage situation in Maharashtra, prime minister Manmohan Singh today expressed concern that power shortages in the country still remain “a constant constraint on our development and livelihoods”. Addressing the national awards ceremony for power utilities, the PM said that it was “a matter of deep concern” that less than half of the planned capacity for the Tenth Plan was actually materialising. Estimates for the Tenth plan (ending 2007) add to around 41,000 mw of capacity during the five years. Due to lack of addition in capacity over the years, the PM pointed out that despite having an overall capacity of close to 130,000 mw "the demand for power has outstripped its supply" and even said that "we cannot be satisfied with the status quo". Incidentally, around ten years back power utilities in Maharashtra were rated as the best in the entire country and therefore were seen as good destination for investments. The PM said that it was indeed “regrettable that across the country power shortages in varying degrees still remains a constant constraint on our development and livelihoods”. Calling for “some introspection as to what has gone wrong” the PM said that “it goes without saying that the performance of the power sector is extremely crucial for the overall performance of our economy”. Pointing at the Tenth plan achievements, the PM said “we need to do better to ensure that electricity does not become a constraint on our economy”.Reiterating the importance to cut down transmission and distribution losses in order to improve the financial viability of the sector, the PM added that “high transmission and distribution losses and constant theft of electricity are unacceptable propositions” and that “these need to be tackled truly on a war-footing”. On a final note the PM said, “I sincerely hope we can forge a broad national consensus on the challenges we face in this vital sector of our economy”.
