Gujarat eyes over 30,000 MW power output

Amidst the ongoing power crisis in several states, the Gujarat government is eyeing power generation capacity in excess of 30,000 MW by 2017, according to the state energy minister, Saurabh Patel.

"The installed power generation capacity in the state is 13,400 MW, which is likely to go up to 19,700 MW by the end of current year. This is projected to increase to 30,200 MW by the end of 2016-17, with addition of more than 12,000 MW generation capacity, in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-2017)," Patel told DNA.
Patel said that Gujarat was the only state which had successfully implemented various power projects.

The energy and petrochemicals department has come out with a booklet to mark completion of 10 years of Narendra Modi as the state's chief minister. The booklet, which is planned to be distributed across the state, talks about Modi government's various achievements in the energy sector in the past decade.
"The power generation capacity in the state was 7,952 MW till the year 2000, but more than 7,200 MW has been added from 2001 to 2011," it says.

The booklet gives a comparison of the number of power connections in the state from 1960 to 2000 and in the subsequent decade. It lists power subsidies provided by the state to farmers in the recent years, which had benefited lakhs of farmers, and also talks about the Jyotigram Scheme, under which three-phase power is supplied to villages in the state.

"The booklet is to show the good work done by the state government in the energy sector. This is exactly the reason that when most parts of the country are reeling under power crisis, Gujarat can continue to supply power round-the-clock to its citizens," Patel said.

The booklet criticises the Congress-led UPA government over issues such as allocating coal for power plants from distant mines, supplying lower quality coal and that too in inadequate quantities, among others.

It also accuses the UPA of injustice to Gujarat even in gas supplies. The booklet says that the Centre has allocated domestic gas to industries, but power plants in the state are forced to use expensive LNG.

According to the booklet, the total number of farm connections stood at 6.65 lakh from 1960 to 2000, while 3.16 lakh connections were given between 2001 and 2011.

Similarly, as against 67.83 power connections by the end of the year 2000, a whopping 42.23 lakh fresh connections were added in the last decade.