Eying to put things in well order in advance, the Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam ltd (JUVNl) has presented power demand to the tune of additional 5,800 MW in the next 4-5 years before the Centre. The power holding company of Jharkhand has also presented a clear roadmap before the Power Ministry which would see resurrection in the field of transmission, distribution and generation.
Explaining the objective of the presentation given before the Ministry on Wednesday, Managing Director of JUVNl Rahul Purwar outlined the grey areas in the power sector where improvement is needed. “We have power demand in the tune of 3200 MW at present. It is expected that the State would be facing a shortfall of 5800 MW in next 4-5 years from now. We have to strategise about this and find out ways to manage it,” the MD told The Pioneer over phone from Delhi.
The presentation also put forth plans of the company about pulling up all the three areas namely transmission, distribution and generation of power for the years to come. “The State needs at least Rs 10,000 crore for improving transmission lines. Another Rs 9500 crore is required for strengthening distribution network which is crucial for evacuation and supply of power. We are facing a shortfall of Rs 2500 crore on distribution front alone,” added Purwar.
The roadmap also laid greater emphasis on electrifying all the households residing in villages of far flung areas of the State and hamlets. “We are planning to take power distribution network to all the households of every village and hamlet by 2020.”
Rahul Purwar in his presentation also talked extensively about upcoming addition in power generation from its own sources. “We have done some joint ventures to renovate PTPS and TVNl. NTPC’s plant is also coming up. We have some independent power plants (IPPs) also from private sector. Most importantly, two ultra mega power projects, one at Deoghar and another at Tilaiya are also in the offing. So, we have considerably brighter future as far as power generation is concerned,” he said.
The UMPP of Tilaiya was earlier promoted by the Reliance Energy which, citing delay in land acquisition and other prerequisites, has withdrawn from the project. The JUVNl is also exploring ways to restart the UMPP of nearly 4000 MW installed capacity. “We are in talks with the Centre on the issue. It may be the Reliance or any other firm. We are open to all the interested promoters as far as this Tilaiya UMPP is concerned,” added Purwar.