Jairam isolated on power target at plan panel meet

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh found himself isolated at the meeting of the full Planning Commission (PC) on the issue of the 12th Plan’s power generation target.

Dubbing the Plan’s aim to add 100,000 Mw to India’s existing power generation capacity of around 165,000 Mw as “ecologically unsustainable”, Ramesh suggested aiming for less than the targeted seven per cent annual rate of growth of generation.

Reacting sharply, cabinet ministers P Chidambaram, Dayanidhi Maran, Sharad Pawar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and PC deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia reportedly rejected Ramesh’s view. It was felt if India could not increase power generation by this much over the 12th Plan (2012-17), it would not be possible to sustain a nine per cent yearly rate of growth of the economy, not to mention the desired 10 per cent.

In response, Ramesh asked why the PC needed to aim for a particular growth target. The aim of the 12th Plan should be good governance, rural development, infrastructure development and so forth. If good policies were adopted, the rate of growth would automatically increase. Instead of setting a growth target, the plan document should only list relevant policies, Ramesh felt.

To which, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said if no growth target was set, India might as well give up planning. Defending the PC methodology, Mukherjee (himself a former deputy chairman) also argued that unless India raised power generation, it would not be in a position to sustain high growth.

Ramesh said such a rapid growth of power generation would mean India’s carbon emissions would reach China’s. He was told China’s current power generation capacity was more than four times India’s at over 800,000 Mw, and India did not have the luxury of slowing down investment in additional generation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was silent through the discussion. In his summary, however, the PM said: “The Planning Commission should take account of all the comments made on Friday and prepare a draft approach to the Twelfth Plan as quickly as possible. It goes without saying that sustainability and low carbon issues should be kept in mind.”

When contacted, Ramesh said, “What I had to say, I said in the Planning Commission meeting.”