SHILLONG: The growth rate of electricity production in India is less than that of its demand. This worrying fact was revealed in a national workshop held to create awareness about the need to conserve en-ergy. "The elect-ricity demand in the country is growing by 10 to 12 per cent which is more than the growth rate of its production," Power Minister AT Mondal said while inaugurating the two-day workshop on "Energy Efficiency, Codes and Ratings in Buildings" here on Thursday. "As we are unable to keep pace with the generation of more energy as per our requirement, it become imperative for us to restrict the loss," Mondal said. The Centre has set a target to save 90,000 MW of power during the Tenth Plan. Referring to the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), he said ECBC is a document that specifies the energy performance requirements for all commercial buildings having electricity load of 500 KW or more. In view of the nation's estimated consumption of 149 billion units, energy conservation in buildings has become a priority, the Power Minister said. On the power scenario in the State, Mondal said the State is expected to become power surplus by 2014. Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary in-charge Power BK Dev Verma said cost effective measures should be adopted to reduce the gap of demand and supply of power. "The country is facing a shortage of one lakh MW of power to meet its current demand," Verma said. The saving potential is 15 per cent in the industries while other commercial establishments and households has the scope of saving 10 per cent, Verma said.