News Friday, 23 Jan, 2009
Indian power sector needs INR 224,000 crore investment

BS quoted Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde Power minister as saying that the power sector has tied up by INR 224,000 crore worth of investments to build power plants with 70,000 MW aggregate capacities in the next 3 years at a time the global economy is reeling under liquidity crunch, according to.

Mr Shinde said that the country had added 12,000 MW capacities at an investment of INR 48,000 crore in the 11th Five Year Plan so far and tied up funds to complete the projects under execution.

He said that “Theoretically, the impact of the downturn will reflect on all sectors. Since the power generation business is booming in the country, we manage to get funds for fresh projects. About 70,000 MW is under execution now, which will help us achieve the targeted 90,000 MW capacity addition under the 5 year Plan.”

However, Ernst & Young in its January report said that the investment in the power sector, including generation, transmission and distribution, would be half the earlier estimate of USD 200 billion. The report said that “The India government is expected to curtail its investment in the power sector due to the global financial crisis. The investment during the 11th Plan period is now expected to be USD 100 billion.”

(Sourced from Business Standard)