Shinde is on a visit to the USA and Turkey

Power Minister Calls for increasing US investment in Indian Power Sector Union Minister of Power Shri Sushilkumar Shinde has called upon the US industry to explore emerging investment opportunities in the Indian power sector and consolidate existing partnerships and projects between the two countries. He was addressing the US India Business Council in Washington.

Giving an outline of the growth of Indian power sector, Shri Shinde said that the present installed generation capacity of India is about 200 GW of which 55 GW has been added during the11th Plan (2007-12).He underlined that this addition is about 2.5 times of the10th Plan and more than the combined capacity generation during the 8th, 9th and 10th Plans. Stating that the share of the private sector in the capacity expansion has gone up substantially from 10% during the 10th Plan to 33% during the 11th Plan, Shri Shinde added that 50% of the capacity in the 12th Plan will come from the private sector. He said that a total investment in generation segment in the 12th Plan would be about 120 Billion USD (Rs. 6 lakh Crore).

On ¡§one nation one grid¡¨, the Minister observed that by the end of 12th Plan, inter-regional transmission capacity would be more than 38 GW. He also shared that the highest voltage level in the world, 1200kV UHVAC Test Station has been test charged at Bina in Madhya Pradesh while the world¡¦s longest „b800kV HVDC multi-terminal bi-pole link of 2000 kmsfrom Biswanath Chariali in the NE region to Agra in the northern region is under implementation.He added that the transmission sector has also been opened for private sector which is expected to have an investment of 36 Billion USD (Rs. 1.8 lakh Crore) in the 12th Plan.

Addressing concerns of the investors, Shri Shinde said that the Government is taking various steps to facilitate reforms in the power sector.He said the Electricity Act 2003 allows the sector to align itself with market dynamics and facilitate greater participation by the private sector. He made a special mention of the budget proposals of 2012 which are expected to stimulate investments in the power sector.He said the rate of withholding tax on interest payment on External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) is proposed to be reduced from 20% to 5% for 3 years. The Minister added that the ECB has also been allowed to partly finance Rupee debt of existing power projects. He informed that the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill is also being considered by the Parliament.

Shri Shinde shared with the delegates that as far as fuel is concerned, Coal India Limited is to sign fuel supply agreements with power plants having long term PPAs with distribution companies and getting commissioned on or before 31st March 2015. Another challenge he talked about was the health of discoms. He assured that the Government is taking steps to ensure that the distribution companies recover their cost input and tariff revisions are taken up timely and adequately. He observed that the priority was to reduce the Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses in the distribution sector. He said the Government is also implementing Restructured- Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APRDP) and Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) for the development of distribution sector. He added that the Power Ministry is in the process of finalizing 8 Smart Grid pilots worth USD 100 Million (Rs. 500 Crore).Shri Shinde said the total investment estimated in distribution sector in the 12th Plan is 60 Billion USD (Rs. 3 lakh Crore)

ShriShinde appreciated the growing use of environmentally clean renewable, hydro and nuclear energy in the 12th Plan. He discussed the Low carbon Growth Strategy to ensure sustainable development of the power sector.He said that the use of super critical technology is sought to be increased in the 13th Plan while initiatives on energy conservation are also being encouraged.

ShriShinde is on a visit to the USA and Turkey to enhance India¡¦s international cooperation in power sector. He is scheduled to address the World Energy Leaders¡¦ Summit in Istanbul on 20th April, 2012.