By Sharat Pradhan, IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh is all set not only to achieve self-reliance in power, but if top officials are to be believed, it would also generate surplus energy.
“The commissioning of two major power plants within the next 12 months will take the power generation up by about 2,500 MW,” Uttar Pradesh Power Corp chairman Navneet Sehgal told IANS.
Sehgal, who is also one of the secretaries to the chief minister, was confident of the state generating surplus energy by 2013, ending the power woes of some 180 million people.
“Instead of depending on other states or NTPC (National Thermal Power Corp), we will be in a position to sell power to other states from 2013,” Sehgal claimed.
Besides upgrading worn-out state-owned installations, the government is also in the process of involving the private sector.
“In fact, five major power installations are proposed to be raised under the PPP (public-private partnership) model and these would enhance generating capacity by 14,000 MW,” said Sehgal.
The proposal includes three 4,000 MW units in Lalitpur, Sonbhadra and Noida, besides a 2,000 MW unit in Etah.
Sehgal said tenders would be floated shortly, with the projects targeted to be completed within 40 months. “And that is going to be the key for our march towards a new era of industrialisation.”
The Mayawati government has also drawn up an ambitious plan to take electricity right down to the grassroots level to each of the 250,000 or so villages over the next three years.
Sehgal said about 30,000 villages will be connected to the state grid by the end of July.
The corporation is also proposing to allocate independent feeders for domestic connections and schools across the state.
“The exercise would cost about Rs.3,000 crore. It will be carried out in phases over a period of two-and-a-half years,” said the corporation chairman, according to whom as many as 56,000 schools are yet to receive electricity.
“We have set a target of three months to ensure electrification of these schools, the government has allocated Rs.200 crore for this,” Sehgal said.
The corporation has other plans on board, he added. For instance, old transformers will be replaced to reduce frequent power interruptions, for which another Rs.200 crore has been allocated.
“I am sure this will solve at least 75 percent of the problem,” Sehgal said.