The supply of power is highly erratic in India. Even in a state like Maharashtra that claims to be one of the most progressive states, electricity supply is inconsistent. The Union government has promised to supply electricity to all the villages in India by 2012. Will the government be able to keep up its promise, is a moot point. Electricity is supposed to be the growth engine of any economy and it must grow at 15-20 per cent to achieve the expected economic growth of 9 per cent. According to industry sources, the Union government has not been able to sustain several big projects that will boost the power supply in the country. An analysis done by Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (ieema), the power equipment industry has shown a meagre growth of 8.09 per cent in the first quarter, as compared to 24 per cent the previous year. A plunge to 8.09 per cent in the first quarter clearly indicates that the electrical manufacturing industry will not be able to achieve its expected growth this year as the supporting power supply infrastructure may not be available. Projects like the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyut Vitharan Yojana (rgvvy) and Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (apdrp) are hit by want of funds. All this has resulted in a slowdown of the power equipment industry in India. ieema is an apex body of over 450 member companies, who manufacture more than 95 per cent of installed equipment in power generation, transmission and distribution sectors. This body regularly monitors and analyses the industry. According to its report, several industries in the power equipment manufacturing segment have seen a shortfall in their production. Majority of the supplies in India are being made to state electricity boards, distribution companies and utilities. Anil Nagrani, assistant director, ieema claims that the Indian government's thrust is now on the expansion of the transmission line industry. "The growth in the switchgear and middle voltage breaker and extra voltage breaker segments clearly shows the importance it is getting from the government," says Nagrani. Even the cable industry, which was about Rs3,750 crore in the last fiscal, has seen a moderate growth in the first quarter. With a slow rate of growth and lack of support from the government, the industries in this segment are now concentrating more on exports. Due to lack of funds and slowdown in the projects, the demand for power equipment has decreased tremendously. "The government needs to achieve at least 60-70 per cent of its target," says Nagrani. Adding a new dimension, currently, India exports about $12 billion worth of equipment for the turnkey projects. Indian exports, however, still stands well below 1 per cent of the world trade in electrical sector and the manufacturers foresee better prospects in the exports market. The situation will most likely be aggravated further as the government has an ambitious programme of an additional power capacity of 11,000-12,000 mw in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. This scheme also envisages the setting up of nine ultra mega projects each of 4,000 mw. Because of a current shortfall in the manufacturing capabilities of certain equipment like boilers and turbines, the private sector power producing companies are unable to source them domestically and need to rely on imports. "The power equipment industry has seen a slowdown in the first quarter. Due to the slowdown in the projects, we are facing losses. We just hope that we can cope up for the losses in the second quarter. The state and Central governments need to take quick action to increase our productivity," says a power equipment manufacturer. Despite all these pitfalls, power sector in India is getting its due recognition as a key infrastructure for economic growth. However, as the government plans to add 70,000 mw of generating capacities during the next five-seven years, it is poised for growth. According to the report, the' overall business is satisfactory, but issues like one-sided terms and conditions and delayed payments are hampering the growth.