India peak power deficit to widen 12.6 pct in 09/10

NEW DELHI, July 10 (Reuters) - India's peak power deficit is expected to widen in the current fiscal year to 12.6 percent from 11.9 percent in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended in March, junior power minister Bharatsinh Solanki said on Friday.

India plans to add 78.7 gigawatts (GW) of power generation during the five year ending March 2012, of which 15.1 GW has been commissioned.

In the previous two financial years, India's power generation was lower than the set targets mainly because of fuel shortages, Solanki said in a written reply to questions in parliament.

He said the Central Electricity Authority has projected energy shortage of 9.3 percent or 78,429 mega units (MU) and peak power shortages of 12.6 percent or 14.98 GW in 2009/10.

During April-June, India's peak power shortages were 12.3 percent and energy deficit was 9.8 percent, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in a reply to a separate question.

In June, India's hydro power generation was 9.3 percent less than year earlier due to sluggish monsoon in most part of the month, he said.

"Less than normal rainfall in the catchment areas of the hydro power projects in Southern, Western and Eastern part of the country, during the month, has also contributed to the shortfall in generation," Shinde said.

Water levels in India's 81 main reservoirs have more than halved from a year earlier after the lowest June monsoon rains for 83 years, government data showed on Thursday. [ID:nDEB000738]

Shinde said thermal power projects that can produce 18.43 GW have been delayed due to delays in supply of equipment.

To improve the power supply and raise per capita power use to 1000 units by 2012, India is building mega power projects with annual capacity of 4 GW each. In 2007-08 per capita consumption of power in India was about 717 kilowatt every hour.

It also aims to harness about 12 GW surplus captive power into the grid and add 14 GW through renewable sources. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by John Mair)