|
|
Home »
India
» India - Overview
|
| India - Overview |
ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN INDIA
Since independence, India has seen a phenomenal growth
in installed capacity and electricity generation (mainly
thermal, hydel and nuclear).
Total installed capacity is 83,288MW. Some 65 per cent
is owned and operated by the State Electricity Boards
(SEBs), and 29 per cent by corporations set up by the
Central Government. Prominent among these are the National
Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which uses coal and gas-fired
units, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC),
National Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Damodar Valley
Corporation (DVC) which generates both coal based and
hydel power. NTPC is the largest among these, owning some
two-thirds (17,000 MW) of the total capacity of central
undertakings.
Nuclear stations under the Central Government-owned Nuclear
Power Corporation account for 2 per cent of installed
generating capacity, and four private distributors own
the remaining 4 per cent.
The public sector Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd
(PGCIL) is in charge of interstate transmission.
In spite of the massive growth in generation capacity,
severe power shortages persist throughout India. Energy
deficiency is approximately 11 per cent and peaking shortage
18 per cent. Capacity addition has fallen far short of
consumption growth. The gap between demand and supply
has widened over the last five years and is expected to
increase in the short term.
Domestic, industrial and
irrigation sector consumers utilize over 85 per cent
of India's electrical energy. Per capita consumption
has grown from 15.6 KwH in 1950 to 314 KwH currently,
but this is still much lower than consumption standards
prevailing in developed economies.
According to the 15th
Electrical Power Survey conducted by the Central Electricity
Authority (CEA), demand is expected to rise at a rate
of 7.5 per cent per annum over the next decade. The
energy requirement376.7 billion KwH in 1995-96 is assessed
to be 502.3 billion KwH in 1999-2000.
Over the next 10 years,
the minimum capacity addition needed is estimated to
be over 83,000 MW. At an average cost of US$1 million
per MW, the investment called for is US$83 billion.
If the investment required in transmission and distribution
are taken into account, the total figure rises to US$143
billion. A majority of this amount will have to be funded
by the private sector, both domestic and foreign.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Delhi
