Delhi government has drawn up an ambitious plan to make energy hungry Capital city to a power surplus one by January 2010, almost 10 months before the city host the Commonwealth Games.
??Under the programme availability of power will be enhanced from the existing 4,200 to 7,000 mw as the process of capacity building is going at a great speed,? state power minister, Ashok Walia told FE.
The state government has allocated Rs 615 crore during the current fiscal and intends to spend another Rs 4,500 crore on power capacity building and cutting down of transmission and distribution (T&D) losses by 2012.
According to Walia, though the Commonwealth Games are to be held in October 2010, when the power demand is not very high, the government is not leaving nothing to chance. It has already secured a plan outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for the next fiscal.
The city?s peak hour demand is unlikely to cross the 6,000 mw mark in the near future, So, around 7,000 mw power capacity will put us in a very comfortable zone, he said.
Over the next two years, the national Capital is expected to get additional power from Damodar Valley Corp (DVC), National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC). Dadri Power Plant and Pragati power station taking the total power output to 4,240 mw. Besides, around 1,800 mw will be drawn from local sources in addition to the already installed capacity of 932 mw.
Similarly, the issue of T&D losses are being addressed. T&D losses which were around 49% in 2007-08 against the national average of 30-31% have already been reduced to an average of % after the sector was handed over to private parties.
The state government is also looking at a couple of new projects from the Centre?s capacity addition programme in the 11th Plan Period. Presently, the city stands to get 750 mw from the upcoming plant at Jhajhar in Haryana.
Officials also point out that, while Central government had fixed the capacity addition of 78,577 mw during the 11th Plan, no project had been earmarked for Delhi. Efforts are on to get some projects for the state.
Being the national Capital, Delhi should get priority status so that the basic needs of the people are fulfilled. Electricity is an area where the state government cannot do much if the required support does not come from other quarters. The expected peak hour demand is estimated to be around 5,200 mw against the current estimate of 4,400 mw in summer, he added.