India set to miss power capacity addition target

India scaled down its set target of additional power generation capacity from 20,359MW to 18,600MW for 2010.

This is due to shortage of power generation equipment, delayed investment decisions, contractual problems, resistance to land acquisition, delays in environmental and forest clearances, geological issues and natural calamities. This will aggravate the current 12% peak-hour power shortage.


The country has commissioned a capacity of 7,059MW so far in the current fiscal. In 2009-10, India added a capacity of 9,585MW as against a target of 14,500MW.


“Apart from the usual problems like delays in equipment supplies, we also had the misfortune of natural calamities as in the case of floods that damaged the commissioning of the first unit of Tehri Hydro Development Corp. Ltd’s 400MW Koteshwar power project,” said a top power ministry official, who did not want to be named.