The Hindu Business Line : Short-circuited

As if the power shortages that threaten various parts of the country were not enough comes the news that things are not likely to get any better for many more summers to come. The Government's much touted plans for ultra mega power projects, nine of them each with 4,000 MW capacity that were to become operational during the Eleventh Plan to help tide over the shortfall in power and slip-ups in Tenth Plan targets, may not see the light of day in the next five years given the kind of delays that plague them. If nothing else, the delays should convince the policymaker of the importance of clearing the decks of the procedural hassles before setting ambitious targets that are convincing only on paper.

A Parliamentary Committee on Energy has severely indicted the Power Ministry, thereby the Government, for what appears to be slipshod work in planning and building the most critical infrastructure, the shortages in which could just derail the growth rate that the country has achieved over the past four years. Based on evidence from the Ministry itself, the Committee found it "abysmally disheartening" that the Tenth Plan targets were not fulfilled mainly because of delays in the award of work orders and constraints in equipment supplies. Sadly, the picture is not any different now, because the Power Ministry has admitted that none of the ultra mega power schemes will come up before the Twelfth Plan that starts in 2012. In its scrutiny, the Committee bemoaned the lack of realism in the Eleventh Plan target setting. It "fails to understand" how 68,869 MW capacity addition could be feasible in the current Plan when the previous Plan target of 41,110 MW was not met. Not surprisingly, there is an increasing mismatch between budgetary allocations that has increased every year since 2004-05 and utilisation that declined to just 57 per cent of the allocations last fiscal. The reasons for this are almost the same every year — confusions about the bidding process, the supply of equipment, and delays in the selection process; the hurdles to fund usage appear endless.

The future therefore looks dim, if not dark, as the economy grapples with rising interest rates and a power supply that will become dearer by the day if the economy continues, by some miracle, on its present dream run; peak shortages are up from 11 per cent five years ago to 14 per cent last year. In an otherwise dismal setting, the only ray of light is in the valuable lesson the Committee has for the policymaker. Get real; only projects that have secured all clearances, have clear deliverable schedules should be included in Plan targets. Modest and achievable targets disappoint less than fabulous and unredeemed promises.