'India's power generation capacity 68 pc below target in FY09'

MUMBAI: India's power generation capacity might have gone up by about 3,500 MW in fiscal 2009, but the capacity addition was dismal as it was over 68 per cent below the target of 11,061 MW set for the period, an economic think-tank has said.

Power generation is, however, expected to grow by 4.6 per cent this fiscal as projects with a capacity of 7,730 MW are likely to commence generation in FY10, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.

"The total installed power generation capacity in India rose by 3,453.7 MW during April-March 2008-09. This is 68.8 per cent below the capacity addition target for 11,061 MW set for the period," CMIE said it in May review. During 2009-10, projects with a capacity of 7,730 MW are expected to commence generation, it said.

"This, together with a higher availability of coal and gas, is likely to result in an acceleration in thermal power generation growth. We expect total power output in India to rise by 4.6 per cent during 2009-10," CMIE said.

The revival in hydro-power generation will bolster growth in total power generation, but at a moderate pace, it added.

At present, India's total installed power capacity stands at 1,47,402.81 MW.Of this, 93,392 MW is generated from thermal and 36,647.76 MW is from hydro.