If Jharkhand deputy chief minister Raghubar Das is to be believed, the state would become self-dependent in power within the next two years and will be a power surplus state by 2014.
?We have held two meetings each with both NTPC and PowerGrid; we would like to have joint ventures for both Patratu and Tenuaghat thermal plants. If we are not able to generate enough power we won?t be able to light the last village in the state?, said state deputy chief minister Raghubar Das.
Without elaborating on the joint ventures the state was planning, Das, who also holds the finance, urban development, energy and housingportfolios, told fe that providing power to every individual in the state was high on the agenda of the government. It would try to fructify it within the next four years.
?We have taken this up as a challenge; we have decided to make the state self-dependant in power within the next two years and by 2014 it will become a power-surplus state,? said the deputy chief minister, adding the state has drawn up both a short-term and long-term plan to overcome the power problem.
Today, JSEB faces a deficit of around 100mw during peak load hours between 6pm and 10pm.
The situation often worsens when the state?s only power stations at Patratu (210×4) and Tenuaghat (210×2), both awaiting substantialfund infusion for almost total overhaul, generate only 40mw and 80mw respectively, which widens the power shortage gap substantially even though Jharkhand is entitled to a maximum of 220mw from the central grid.
Das said power was not only a vital input for industry but also for agriculture and as the state government was looking for balanced development on all the four fronts, i.e industry, agriculture, trade and services, self-sufficiency in power was what it was aiming for.
Urging industry bodies to lend a helping hand in developing the state, Das said it was unfortunate that Jharkhand was suffering with 40% of the country?s coal deposits.