Nitish asks PM to raise funds for rural power

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the budgetary provision for village electrification to Rs 14-15 lakh per village against a national level of Rs 6.5 lakh per village.

Kumar has also asked the prime minister for help in enhancing the state's allocation of power from upcoming central power generation projects.

"The Bihar chief minister has asked for allocations nearing 50 per cent of the power generation of upcoming plants in the region. The plants are Kahalgaon phase-II (600 Mw), Barh (792 Mw), North Karanpura (972 Mw), Teesta HEP (255 Mw) and Tala (500 Mw)," government sources told Business Standard.

In a letter written to the prime minister's office, Kumar has detailed the reasons for seeking the allocation.

He has said the allocation of 1,323 Mw from power generation plants in the region will help in rural electrification programmes and cover all rural households by 2012. The plants will generate a total of 3,119 Mw.

The state has asked for 40 per cent allocation of power from Kahalgaon phase-II, Barh, North Karanpura, and 50 per cent from Teesta HEP and Tala.

On the rural electrification front, the state government has said the task is tough as only 10 per cent of rural households receive electricity.

In his letter, Kumar has explained that to cover the remaining 90 per cent households in villages, the development of basic infrastructure will have to be taken up in a manner different from other states.

The Bihar chief minister has requested that budgetary provisions be made and detailed project reports (DPRs) for the rural electrification programme be approved, keeping the above conditions in mind.

"Budgetary provision for village electrification at the national level has been kept at Rs 6.5 lakh per village. Due to Bihar's conditions, even by conservative estimates, the cost comes to around Rs 14 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per village," the sources said.