Over 28,000 MW of power capacity to be added in FY12

The ambitious goal for 2011-12 seems to have been made taking into consideration the 62,000 MW target for capacity addition in the Eleventh Five Year Plan period. The ministry has till now added 34,462 MW of power during the current Plan period.

The Planning Commission has revised the earlier target of adding over 78,000 MW power during the Eleventh Plan to 62,000 MW but the power ministry is finding it difficult to even meet the revised target due to the sluggish progress on hydro power projects. It added over 12,000 MW of electricity by commissioning 42 power projects by March,2011,of which five are state-run NTPCs projects. Further,as many as seven projects will be connected to the national grid in a couple of weeks. Over 3,600 MW of electricity would be attached to the grid in the next 2-3 weeks, Shinde said.

Apart from state run NTPC,the prominent companies which added to the capacity in 2010-11 include Adani Power,Reliance Power and Tata Power. The power ministry has now set a target for adding over 1,00,000 MW of electricity during the XII Plan 2012-2017. About 79,000 MW of power projects are under construction,all of which is not for the current Plan, the minister said.