India’s power generation capacity crosses 2 lakh MW

Coal crunch and other negatives notwithstanding, India's power generation capacity has crossed another important benchmark of 2 lakh mega watt (MW). The power ministry said, ''With the commissioning of a 660-MW unit of a power plant in Jhajjar, Haryana, the country's installed capacity has reached 2,00,287 MW,'' said a statement from the power ministry.

The capacity now comprises around 1,32,013 MW is coal based, 38,991 MW  hydro power, 4,780 MW nuclear and 24,503 MW of renewable power.

The addition to the capacity during the last fiscal year (2011-12) alone stood at 20,501 MW capacity, of which 5,482 MW was added in March alone.

''Power generation capacity is a challenge to the country if it has to achieve a 8 per cent-plus growth rate and hence a lot of emphasis was placed in the 11th Plan on the timely capacity addition,'' power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde who spoke to the Hindustan Times earlier.

The 11th Plan, saw a capacity addition of 53,122 MW, in excess of two-and-a-half times of the 21,180 MW added during the 10th Plan.

HT quoted a senior power ministry official as saying that the capacity addition in the 11th Plan was close to the total cumulative achievement of 56.617 MW in the last 15 years.