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‘Power: XI Plan target will be met’

NEW DELHI: The Union Power Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, on Tuesday exuded confidence that the targets set by his Ministry for the XI Plan would be achieved.

In his inaugural address at the ‘X Power Forum’ here, Mr. Shinde pointed out that the 78,000 MW capacity addition target for the Plan was not an ambitious one and would be met and reiterated his commitment to electrify each village in the country by 2009 and provide electricity to each household by 2012.

Stressing the need for open access in the power sector that was crucial for sustaining an overall growth of over nine per cent, the Minister dwelt on the measures being taken to put power generation on the fast track.

The loopholes in the bidding process of ultra mega power projects (UMPPs), he said, had been plugged and the problems relating to merchant power plants of about 12,000 MW had also been sorted out.

Speaking on the occasion, Power Secretary, Anil Razdan, said that the XI Plan period would not only usher in huge opportunities for industries active in the power sector but also generate employment on a large scale in urban and rural areas.

In his address, Planning Commission Member, B. K. Chaturvedi, described theft of electricity as a major challenge and stressed the need to plug the leakage.

Citing examples of telecom and insurance sectors where permitting access to the private sector has been a win-win situation for both public and private sectors, he said open access in the power sector was a must.

0Improvement in equipment delivery system and availability of fuel were some of the other challenges facing the sector, the Power Minister said.

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