Scenario of Power in India

Growth of economy calls for watching the rate of growth in infrastructure facilities.
Power sector is one of the major aspects of this infrastructure building. Some prominent
people like the Ex Chairman of GE Jack Welch have gone to the extent of saying, you
dont have a chance to stand in the 21st century without lots of powerWithout
this you miss the next revolution.
Moreover, the growth rate of demand for power in developing countries is generally higher
than that of GDP. In India, the elasticity ratio was 3.06 in 1st plan, & peaked at 5.11 during
3rd plan and came down to 1.65 in 80s. For 90s a ratio of around 1.5 was projected. Hence,
in order to support a growth of GDP of around 7%, the rate of growth of power supply of
10% is required.
If we look at current scenario, electricity consumption in India has more than doubled in the
last decade, outpacing the economic growth. If we analyze the various statistics of Indian
power sector, we will find that the generating capacity has gone up tremendously from a
merger 1712MW in 1950 to a whooping 147000MW today.
The critical role played by the power industry in the economic progress of a country has to
be emphasized. A self sufficient power industry is vital for a nation to achieve economic
stability.

Indian Power Industry

Before Independence

The British controlled the Indian power industry firmly before Independence. Then legal
and policy framework was contributing to private ownership, with not much regulation with
regard to operational safety.
Post Independence
Immediately after Independence, the country was faced with capacity restraint. India adopted
a socialist structure for economic growth and all the major industries were controlled by
public sector enterprises. By 1970's, India had nationalized most of its energy assets, due to
its commitment to social goals. By the late 1980's, the Indian economy felt the strain of the
socialist agenda followed since independence. Faced with a serious deterioration in public
finance and balance of payment crisis, the Union government as part of its policy of
economic liberalization allowed greater investment by private sector in the power industry.
The electricity sector in India is predominantly controlled by Government of India's public
sector undertakings (PSUs). Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation
(NHPC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI). Besides PSUs, several state-level
corporations, such as Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), are also involved in the
generation and intra-state distribution of electricity. The Power Grid Corporation of India is
responsible for the inter-state transmission of electricity and the development of national grid.
India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy
consumption. Due to India's economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of
3.6% per annum over the past 30 years. In March 2009, the installed power generation
capacity of India stood at 147,000 MW while the per capita power consumption stood at 612
kWh. The country's annual power production increased from about 190 billion kWH in 1986
to more than 680 billion kWH in 2006. The Indian government has set an ambitious target to

add approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation capacity by 2010. The total demand
for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.
Electricity losses in India during transmission and distribution are extremely high and vary
between 30 to 45%. In 2004-05, electricity demand outstripped supply by 7-11%.
Due to shortage of electricity, power cuts are common throughout India and this has
adversely effected the country's economic growth.

Generation
Grand Total Installed Capacity is 147,402.81 MW
Thermal Power
Current installed capacity of Thermal Power (as of 12/2010) is 93,392.64 MW which
is 63.3% of total installed capacity.
Current installed base of Coal Based Thermal Power is 77,458.88 MW which comes
to 53.3% of total installed base.
Current installed base of Gas Based Thermal Power is 14,734.01 MW which is 10.5%
of total installed base.
Current installed base of Oil Based Thermal Power is 1,199.75 MW which is 0.9% of
total installed base. The state of Maharashtra is the largest producer of thermal power
in the country.
Hydro Power

India was one of the pioneering states in establishing hydro-electric power plants, The power
plant at Darjeeling and Shimsa (Shivanasamudra) was established in 1898 and 1902
respectively and is one of the first in Asia. The installed capacity as of 2008 was
approximately 36647.76. The public sector has a predominant share of 97% in this sector.
Nuclear Power
Currently, 17 nuclear power reactors produce 4,120.00 MW (2.9% of total installed base).
Renewable Power
Current installed base of Renewable energy is 13,242.41 MW which is 7.7% of total installed
base with the southern state of Tamil Nadu contributing nearly a third of it (4379.64 MW)
largely through wind power.