Can we learn something???????

India’s power sector: private players do a good job, prices to go up!

They added almost half the total addition to power capacity. There are exciting developments in the power generating sector. It is the big role played by the private players, also called independent power producers, who alone produced half of the additional capacity in the last one year alone.

Given this trend ,there will soon be a new market-driven power production from the growing clout of these players.

Accordingly, we also need to redraw the new power production policy that would enable the private sector players more and more in the years to come.

We need to exploit our own natural resources, hydropower/thermal and alternative energy sources. Somehow our power sector debate has been pushed on a queer path. It doesn’t seem to be a fashion to talk of our own natural resources, hydro power and thermal power from coal. It is now a sort of fashion to talk of the distant civil nuclear power as the new energy supplies.

Also, we don’t seem to put any emphasis, lest it be mistaken, as relying on the biggest players like Reliance and Tatas in the current political environment where the emphasis should be on aam aadmi, rather than business with no nonsense!
Anyway, there are new energy sources, gas, petroleum and also much collaboration with foreign suppliers, from Iran to Russia.

This is the time or age of natural gas and petroleum exploration and thus , the right time to design foreign policy that takes care of our energy sources.
Unfortunately, there is not much public discussion or debate on this.

In parliament most MPs also don’t seem to be talking in any depth on any basic issues like power deficit or energy sources.

Repeatedly, we are talking about price rise, especially about the rise of prices of petroleum.

Since most of our petroleum is imported, we run a heavy subsidy bill. Thus, the news remains politically motivated and the substantive side of the energy and power supplies and deficits do not get adequate exposure.

With the private players, like Jindal steel, Tata power, Lanco Infratech. Adani power, Torrent power, the total capacity
addition fell short of by a third of the 14,507 mw target set for 2009-10.

Our Prime Minister never talks and hence the people at large also don’t get a fairly balanced discussion on the country’s inherent strengths. We seem to be talking too much about high profile areas like civil nuclear power, as if it is the only source of power and do not focus on what is in reach and within India’s capabilities. No one talks about the still untapped potential from our natural resources, like hydro power, coal sector power, wind power etc.

Also, some policy decisions that paid off like the role of the private sector power producers is left unmentioned or the real achievers left unhonoured.
There is also the mindset to focus on the public sector power companies like NTPC and NHPC.

NHPC MD Mr.S K Gag says in a recent interview that India is endowed with abundant hydropower potential of about 149 gw (giga watts) of which only 25% has been developed so far. The remaining untapped potential gives ample opportunities to hydropower developers. NHPC alone is executing 11 new projects with an aggregate capacity of 4,622 mw, which will enable the company to become 9,500 mw plus company. This is good news.

After 2013, NHPC has set a new target of 12 more projects with aggregate installed capacity of 5,322 mw during the XI Plan. NHPC is presently operating 13 hydro projects. Total installed capacity is 5175 mw. NHPC is seeking clearances for projects about 10,000 mw.

NHPC can also pursue the thermal power generation option; it has a jt venture company for this. The MD narrates the details of the joint ventures in Madhya Pradesh alone.

There is also a mini tidal power project in West Bengal.

There is the other biggest PSU, the NTPC, thermal power generating giant. NTPC and NHPC are the two giants and they hold the key to attain targets under the government’s long term vision. NTPC’s performances are very disappointing, just 990 mw added in 2009-10.