Bihar to be self sufficient in power by 2015

Bihar government has reiterated its resolution to make the state self sufficient in power within next two years. However, it has also indicated towards further hike in electricity tariffs in the state.

"Power is vital for state's development," state Energy Minister Vijayendra Yadav told state assembly on Monday, "therefore we are doing everything to get more electricity. We have set a target of 5,300 MW for power generation by 2015. This includes the current central allocation of 1,800 MW. The state government hopes that the Barh NTPC will be ready by 2015, from where we have been allocated 1,200 MW. Apart from this, state power generation units at Muzzafarpur and Barauni would also be ready by then. We expect 800 MW from these units.

The state government has also signed long term power purchase agreements from various private players, which would give us another 1,000 MW. We are also buying 200 MW from Adani Powers. We are getting 100 MW from DVC. Then there are several other projects, which will help along the way. We are confident that we will be a self sufficient in power by 2015."

He also stated that Bihar will be a power surplus state by the year 2020. "Our promises are for 2015, but we are aiming beyond that. We want to have a power generation of 16,000-17,000 MW by 2020," commented the minister. He added, "The Nabinagar project, a joint venture between Bihar Government and NTPC, is on track. We hope to get almost 4,000 MW from this project. The central government has also given its nod for setting up an Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in the state. We hope to get another 4,000 MW from several other projects. Hence, by 2020 we will a power surplus state."

He also indicated a further hike in the power prices. Yadav told, "The losses of distribution companies (DISCOMS) are considerable. Therefore, the hike in power prices is unavoidable. People should cooperate with us."

The minister also promised considerable investments in transmission and distribution sector. The state government has recently signed a MoU with PowerGrid to set up a joint venture for revamping its transmission network.

The minister told that the state government will be investing Rs 6,000 crores in this process. It will further invest Rs 2,000 crores in the revamp of distribution network in 71 cities of the state.