Power shortage must end for sustained growth: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the gap between supply and demand for power must be bridged if the country is to achieve a higher rate of economic growth on a sustained basis.

Singh said availability of affordable power was of critical importance for the country's development. The union government has drawn up an ambitious programme for additional power generation during the 11th and 12th five year plans. Such large addition of power would generate huge demand for power equipment, he said.

He was speaking after laying the foundation-stone for the Rs6,000-crore Power Projects Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between state-owned companies Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) a joint venture for power equipment manufacturing plant at Srikalahasthi, an economically backward area 60 km from the temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

This is the largest public sector undertaking that the state has bagged after the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant amidst stiff competition among various states.

The plant will be able to provide power equipment required for additional capacity of 5,000 mw per year by 2014-15. It will provide direct employment to 6,000 persons and indirect employment to another 25,000.

The joint venture company will carry out engineering, procurement, erection, commissioning, etc., for power plants as well as infrastructure projects. Chief minister K Rosaiah directed state government officials to lay a four-lane road at Mannavaram and connect it to the nearest national highway.