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Bangalore, Jan 15: The 11th Plan would set a target of bringing down distribution losses in the power sector to 15% from the current level of 38% for the country, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Monday.
Delivering the Sir Vithal N Chandavarkar memorial lecture and later responding to questions at the Indian Institute of Science here, he said distribution losses in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have already come down to 18-20%.
"The government is going to adopt a system of incentives for states who do the kind of things needed on that front," he said.
On education, Ahluwalia favoured increase in fees in Universities which, he said was an average of five per cent of the cost of education. Raising it to 15-20% was not unreasonable, he argued, and emphasised the need to strengthen the existing system of scholarships and loans. But he also said quality at many of India's universities was not up to the mark, and there was a need for upgradation.
"There should be free access to loans," he added.
He supported the idea of allowing universities to draft NRIs who want to visit India, as teaching faculty for a short duration. Ahluwalia also said the potential water crisis in Indiawould be more serious than the energy crisis. He called for rational use of water, and a water-efficient agriculture.
"Unregulated use of water is leading to the water level going down in Punjab," he observed.
—PTI
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