Minister of Energy Pranab Prakash Das told the Assembly on Monday that the State Government is planning to provide electricity connection to more than 25 lakh families during next five years, for which an additional 2,000 MW of power would be needed. Das, replying to the discussion on the budget demand of his department, said that out of the 96.37 lakh houses, till date 52.43 lakh houses have been provided power connections. Over 25 lakh more houses would be provided electricity, for which the Government has chalked out a programme. He said that in 2000, the State had 16 lakh electricity consumers, which has risen to 53 lakh while during last five years 25 lakh new consumers have been added. The Minister said that during next five years by 2019, the OPGC, NTPC and UMPP would be able to provide 2,500 MW of additional power, and by that time the State’s demand would be 5,700 MW. After 2019, keeping in view the power demand, the Government is setting up its own power plant of 2,400-MW capacity at Kamakshya Nagar, he said. Secondly, the NTPC would set up a 1,600-MW plant at Gajamara in Dhenkanal district. Form these two plants, the State would receive 3,000 MW of additional power, he said. Besides, all the hydropower stations including Balimela, Hirakud and Chiplima would be renovated with a cost of Rs 1,000 crore by 2019. In order to manage the peak power situation, a pump storage sector-based hydropower project would be undertaken, for which a detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared, he said. On the distribution front, the CAPEX Plan is being implemented with a cost of Rs 2,400 crore, and in the first phase Rs 960.83 crore has been allocated, said Das. He assured that sue to various steps the AT & C loss would be reduced by three per cent, saving Rs 300 crore.