Rs 93,000cr Spent On Oil Imports In 8th Plan

A whopping amount of over Rs 93,000 crore is estimated to have been spent on oil imports during the eighth five year plan period, the Lok Sabha was told yesterday.

Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas T R Baalu said in a writen reply that steps to contain the oil import bill were being taken, which included expansion of refinery capacity, increasing crude production through application of improved technology and inviting foreign and private capital in the upstream sector.

Details of oil import bill during the 8th plan period were : Rs 15,439.18 crore (1992-93), Rs 16,221.14 crore (1993- 94), Rs 16,250.36 crores (1994-95), Rs 22,262.92 crores (provisional-1995-96) and Rs 23,318.09 (provisional-1996-97 - April-December, 1996).

Overdues: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana topped the list of overdues of state electricity boards in 1995-96, together accounting over half the total national bill of Rs 899.85 crore, minister of state for planning Y K Alagh, said in a written reply. While bihar accounted for Rs 238.22 crore, Uttar Pradeshs overdue was Rs 160 crore while that of Haryana was Rs 120.57 crore.

Power: The gvernment has received 128 expressions of interest for setting up generation capacity of 70,549 MW, involving a projected investment of Rs 253,405.29 crore, minister of state for power S Venugopalachari said.

Infrastructure: Fifty-six proposals involving foreign investment from private promoters, including multinational companies, have been recieved by the government for setting up of power projects, Venugopalachari said adding that these together cost over Rs 1,000 crore.

Estates: There are 16 VVIPs/VIPs from whom a sum of over Rs 28 lakhs is due for recovery on account of government accomodation by the directorate of estates, minister of state for urban affairs U Venkateswarlu said.

He said there were ten former ministers and former mps who were still occupying the general pool houses and a sum of Rs 13.3 lakhs was outstanding against them.

Poverty: Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the most poverty-stricken states in the country, minister of state for rural areas and employment Chandradev Prasad Verma said.

While over 40 per cent of Orissas population lived below poverty line, 34.44 per cent of those in Bihar, 31.89 per cent of people in Madhya Pradesh and 30.08 per cent in Uttar Pradesh lived below the poverty line, he added.