Power on demand by 11th Plan: Govt

  • 11/02/2008

  • Business Standard

The Centre has a plan to provide electricity on demand by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan, Union Minister for Power Sushilkumar Shinde said today. "However, we have targeted to produce 80,000 Mw in the 11th Five Year Plan, for which Rs 28,000 crore has been earmarked under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme (RGRES) compared to Rs 5,000 crore allocated in the last Plan, Shinde told at the concluding session of the two-day 85th Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) here, The 80,000-Mw power production included a 4,000-Mw ultra mega project, he said. Shinde said he had taken six months after assuming the energy ministry to understand the cause behind shortage of power production in the country during the last three subsequent Plan periods. Stating that the government had planned to provide electricity in every house under the Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification scheme by the end of the 11th Plan, Shinde said that 40,000 villages of the 120,000 villages in the country had been provided electricity. Advocating cordial management-worker relationship, the minister said a leader could never be a successful unless he knew the time of withdrawal of agitation. Shinde also cautioned INTUC, which has over 1.2 million members, to be careful about bogus membership as it would only lead to controversy. The rivalry within trade unions would have its impact on industry.