9,585 mw power capacity added in last fiscal

India added 9,585 mw of electricity generation capacity in the last fiscal year that ended 31 March, minister for power Sushilkumar Shinde said today. In a statement, the minister said also that private-sector companies are building power projects amounting to a total capacity of 50,000 mw, but did not elaborate.

India is adding power generation capacity at a fast pace, but demand still exceeded supply by more than 13 per cent during peak hours in the last financial year.

State-run National Thermal Power Corp and private sector players are investing hundreds of crores of rupees in building new power plants as they bet on continued high demand for electricity over the next decade.