By IANS,
Raipur : All rural households in Chhattisgarh will have electricity by 2012, a senior official said Friday.
“Presently, the state has 56 percent rural household electrification. We are working on a strategy to achieve 100 percent electrification by 2012,” Rajib Ranjan, chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board, told IANS.
Ranjan said about 18 percent of the country’s coal deposits were in Chhattisgarh and the state would become the country’s power hub by 2012.
Chhattisgarh has deals with 50 power companies for setting up coal-fired thermal plants to generate 42,297 MW of power on an investment of Rs.1,900 billion, Ranjan added.
The state had an average daily power demand of just 900 MW when it was carved out from Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, and 1,200 MW during peak hours.