IPPs to contribute 25% of the capacity addition target by 2012

Independent power producers such as Tata Power and Reliance Power will add 20,000 Mw of electricity, 25 per cent of the total capacity addition scheduled for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12).

“The capacity target of independent power producers (IPPs) is 20,000 Mw by the end of the plan, out of which 3,700 Mw has already been commissioned,” Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters here.

At present, the country is facing a power deficit of 15,000-20,000 Mw. The government plans to add 78,700 Mw of power capacity by the end of the Eleventh Plan Period.

One unit of the 4,000-Mw Mundra ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Gujarat being developed by Tata Power and one unit of Sasan UMPP which is being executed by Reliance Power are likely to come up during the current plan period.

Adani Power, part of the diversified Adani Group, is setting up two thermal power plants in Gujarat, one at Mundra and another at Tiroda, totaling 6,600 Mw capacity.

Asked about Delhi's power situation, Shinde said the national capital at present had 4,500 Mw and further, 4,000 Mw would be added before the Commonwealth Games next year.

Delhi will be power-surplus by the Commonwealth Games of 2010, he added.