Ntpc Capacity Hike In 9th Plan To Be Way Off Target

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has poured cold water over the power ministrys hopes of meeting the countrys power requirements by the end of the ninth plan.

The power ministry has estimated that the country will need additional power generation of 57,734 mw during the ninth plan period, of which 39,444 mw of thermal generation capacity is to be added by private, state and central utilities. The NTPC is expected to generate almost 60 per cent approximately 20,000 mw of this figure.

However, the corporation has expressed its inability to add more than 2,500 mw of generating capacity during the ninth plan period, which is less than even the 5,462 mw of generating capacity that it had managed to add during the eighth plan period. The new generating capacity will come mainly from Vindhyachal (2x500 mw), Unchahar (2x210 mw), Kayamkulam (350 mw) and Faridabad Gas Station (400 mw).

 

The corporation has attributed this dismal performance to the ballooning outstandings of state electricity boards, which owe it more than Rs 5,000 crore. The corporations cash crunch has been exacerbated by its failure to get any of its major projects cleared by the public investment board. Since it takes at least five years after the zero date for a thermal power project to commence operations, even if a project is approved now, it would start generating power only during the 10th plan period.

The corporation is also finding it difficult to get gas linkages for its gas-based power projects. According to NTPC officials, the corporation is still not sure if the Gas Authority of India Ltd will provide gas for the 650-mw Kawas expansion project. With an impending power shortage looming large, there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering industrial and private consumers.