India considers $11 billion of funding for new power generation projects

• 14 years ago (2010-09-09)
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Energy-hungry India is considering setting up an $11 billion fund to help finance the expansion of power companies' generation capacities, the country's power secretary has said.

This new move is an attempt to reduce the all too frequent power cuts in India’s urban areas, and expand electricity into the millions of rural households.

However, funding to reach the new target of 164 GW for installed capacity is hard to come by.

"There are thoughts of setting up a debt fund. It's at a planning stage," India's power secretary P. Uma Shankar told reporters; while also confirming the fund’s total of 500 billion rupees - $11 billion.

India is aiming to have increased its capacity by 62 GW on 2007 levels by 2012 and hopes to add an additional 100 GW over the course of the federal government’s next 5 year plan which ends in 2017.

India’s power secretary has confirmed that this increase in power funding will be in excess of the already significant $11 billion fund for other infrastructure projects – ports, roads, airports and telecommunications – recommended by a Planning Commission panel.