• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

North facing acute power shortage, says PHDCCI

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Aug. 13

THE northern region of the country is likely to face the problem of power shortage in the days to come as generation capacity has not increased as envisaged during the Ninth Plan, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has said.

The total installed capacity in the region (including Madhya Pradesh) as of March 1999 was 29,430 MW. There was an overall peaking shortage of about 2,100 MW in the region during April 1999 to January 2000, PHDCCI said in a statement.

This shortage does not include the peak load restrictions averaging three hours in the States, the Chamber said.

the peak demand is estimated to increase by about 9,400 MW to about 31,700 MW by the end of the Ninth Plan (2001-02), and as limited generating capacity is being commissioned during the Plan period, the power shortage is likely to go worse.

"The high T&D losses, error-prone billing procedures and unethical practices of staff and consumers have eroded the financial viability of power sector for years. The T&D systems are grossly overloaded with actual losses in the region varying between 25 per cent to 50 per cent and a significant proportion of these losses could be attributed to pilferage," PHDCCI said.

It has become essential to facilitate a more productive role for the private sector by linking generation to distribution rights in a particular area and thereby enabling financial closure of projects, it said.

The northern region has tremendous potential for development of small and micro hydel projects. However, only one 125-MW IPP project in Gurgaon has been commissioned in the region out of the 4,760 MW capacity commissioned in the country, the chamber said .