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Pune , Dec. 5

THE Government has set up task forces to improve the power scenario in the country.Talking to presspersons, Mr R.V. Shahi, Power Secretary, said the Ministry had constituted six task forces to ensure energy conservation in six industrial areas of aluminium, cement, alkali soda, fertiliser, pulp and paper, and textile.

Further, the Ministry had zeroed in on eight product categories that should carry labels regarding consumption of energy, he said.

The official was talking on the sidelines of Encon 2003, an exhibition and national conference on energy management organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Western Region.

Mr Shahi said a timeframe of three years had been given for industries to buck up and follow the prescribed norms. If the the concerned industriesfollowed the guidelines, they could save Rs 400 crore over the next three years. He added that if the industries did not comply with the norms, the penal procedure would begin after five years, ending 2008.

About product categories, he said, in the first phase, the manufacturers of electrical goods, identified by the Ministry, would have to declare the energy consumption of their products, and at a later stage, conform to the standards set by the Ministry. The identified products include air-conditioners, heaters, motors of 2,000 kVa and above; agri-pumps of 2,000 kVa and above; lighting systems, distribution transformers, industrial fans of 100 kVa and above; and air compressors of 100 kva and above.

Manufacturers would be given a time period of two to three years to label all their products, so that they would have time to set up consumption testing facilities.

Standards for consumption would come into force in 2004-05, Mr Shahi said, while pointing out penal provisions for non-compliance would not come into force till March 2008.

Mr Shahi said of the Rs 20,000-crore Central Government outlay in the 10th Plan for the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP), projects worth Rs 6,000 crore would be executed in fiscal year 2003-04. The programme is aimed at making the State electricity boards and other electricity utilities commercially viable by offering financial assistance for upgradation and modernisation of sub-transmission and distribution (T&D). Of the 40 to 50 per cent T&D, 15 to 20 per cent is technical; the remaining is commercial and theft.

Earlier, speaking at the conference, Mr Shahi said 162 hydel power projects had been identified in 16 States; these are expected to generate an additional 50,000 MW of power. The projects are likely to be implemented in the 11th and 12th Plan.

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