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IMG report on power sector soon: Minister

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Dec. 14

THE inter-Ministerial group set up by the Union Power Ministry will soon come out with its report, which will be a blueprint as well as a white-paper on the country's power sector, the Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, has said.

Inaugurating the four-day Infranet'2000 conference, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and IDFC here, Mr Prabhu said the report would chart out the future course of action his Ministry would take to address the persisting issues in the power sector.

``The committee under the Finance Secretary will submit the report in the next one month. It will evaluate why things have not taken off in the power sector and suggest remedial measures,'' Mr Prabhu said.

Besides the Power Ministry, the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum were also on the committee, the Minister told presspersons later.

He also said the Power Ministry was holding talks with several global financial organisations for investments in the power sector and help the cash-strapped State Electricity Boards (SEBs), Mr Prabhu said.

Earlier speaking at the function, the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Chairman, Mr Deepak Parekh, said in the key areas of telecom and power sectors, more far-reaching policies were needed to propel a faster growth.

``There should a single licence for all telecommunication services. The revenue sharing should be used to meet administrative expenses and the present cap on the foreign equity should be removed,'' Mr Parekh said.

On the power sector, he said the Government should privatise distribution in the entire urban and industrial areas.

The CII President, Mr Arun Bharat Ram, said India should strive to achieve an annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent of the GDP to match its size and potential.

He also suggested that 50 per cent of the corpus of the India Millennium Deposits be invested in infrastructure projects. Renovation of existing projects, picking up the best management talent to run infrastructure projects, and rewarding timely implemen tation were also needed, he said.

The first IDFC awards for excellence in infrastructure were also given away at the function. It went to Bharti Enterprises and Gujarat Pipavav Port.