POWERLESS INDIA AS THOSE IN POWER PLAY POLITICS

By Ruma Dubey

Mouthing ambitious targets with gumption, which on face value itself seem incredulous, is a die-hard habit of our ministers. There seems to be no connection between what the mouth says and the reality on the ground.  That is precisely why no one gives any credence to the words of a politician in India.

Like Sharad Pawar. Last week when asked about the monsoon, he nonchalantly stated that there was nothing to worry as rains could catch up and cover the deficit. That is like really predicting the weather, IMD style. He said this while the rest of the country could feel the heat and knew that we were staring at a rainfall deficit.  Maharashtra is just a whisker away from being declared as “drought hit” and yet, we hear statements of assurances at this stage?

And today, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde stated that India aims to add 88,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity in the next five years. This is the 12th Plan period – 2012 to 2017. As per the target set, we are looking at addition of 17,600MW per year.

In the 11th Plan period, which ended in March 2012, the total power generated was 53,000 MW and this was 68% of the originally estimated target for the Plan period at 78,700 MW.  Thus deficit remains habitual. But the silver lining there which raises some hope is that a 20,501 MW was added in FY12 which was the highest for any year and is close to 21,180 MW added in the whole of 10th plan period (2002-07).

India’s current installed capacity stands at 205340.26 MW and the target for the current fiscal is 17956.30 MW. Till 12th June, the addition was 5266 MW, which is 29% of the total target.

Now take a look at the power supply position till end of June 2012. As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) the total energy requirement for the country is 85,382 MU and the deficit was at 8.6%. The peak demand is at 1,28,687 MW and the deficit stood at 5.8%. North East India has the worst power shortage, followed by South India, then Eastern India. But the bottomline is that the entire country is facing a power shortage.

The blame for the poor performance of the power sector is laid entirely on shortage of coal. The CEA has forecast an acute shortage of power-grade coal in the country and that thermal coal imports will grow. According to Planning Commission, India's coal imports are likely to touch 185 million tonnes against 137 million tonnes, by end of 2017, almost 20% of the international dry fuel trade amid widening demand-supply deficit. Yes, there is an urgent need to take effective measures to step up coal production. Around 43 coal blocks allocated to the private sector was cancelled as it fell in the ‘no-go’ green belt. And unless coal linkages are assured, the situation will continue to remain grim.

For now, there seems to be darkness in the power sector and unless the Govt buckles up and gets going, the sector and the people of India could be left groping in the dark. Power is what fuels the economy and unless the Govt gets its priority right, things will continue to remain murky. The power sector is on the threshold of darkness and it is upto the Govt to wake up and pull it back into light.

Nearly 25% of India's population, which is over 300 million, still has no access to electricity. And yet the VIP areas and Mumbai never ever experiences this hard truth. Maybe if we get the VIPs to sweat and fret in darkness, only then will this poor state of power get rectified.