Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

PM's speech at launch of 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative

~I am pleased to be with you today to launch an unprecedented initiative in the power sector. The Ministry of Power has taken a momentous decision to launch a 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative covering 162 schemes in 16 States. I congratulate the Ministry for this initiative. Let us applaud all those who are associated with this effort.

Power is a critical input for any economic activity. Its sufficiency is a prerequisite for speeding up India’s economic growth and improving the living standards of all our citizens. Without power, we cannot empower our people in the economic dimension of their lives. It is a major determinant of the quality of life. I may also mention here that political power is being increasingly influenced by our ability to meet the power needs of our people.

As I survey the power scenario in the country, I sense growing impatience among the people. VVIP areas are usually better served, so we do not always feel the severity of the problem. However, power cuts have become all too common in areas where common people live and work – and I am not talking only about remote villages, but also about many of our cities and towns.

This is severely affecting our agriculture, industry, and services. Persisting problems in the power sector have become perhaps the biggest bottleneck in the realization of India’s immense developmental potential. We must change this situation.

It is a heartening and hopeful sign that all the States have now recognized the need for a major overhaul of the power sector. The Union Government has been receiving strong support from States and Union Territories in implementing our reforms agenda. The new Electricity Bill, which has recently been passed in both Houses of Parliament, heralds a new consensus and a new determination. It has emerged out of an intense national debate with all the stakeholders, opinion leaders and experts.

We have the ~Act~ that we wanted. What is needed now is ~Action~.

I have no doubt that the people will give full support when the Centre and the States begin to translate this political consensus for change into concrete action on the ground.

I am happy that we are beginning to pay attention to problems in the distribution component of the power sector. The Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Power throughout the Tenth Five Year Plan. It will provide direct assistance to the States for improvement of the sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure. Performance-based incentive will also be given to power utilities to reduce their losses. This activity is normally under the control of the State Governments. But, through APDRP, we want to work with the States to bring about substantial technical improvements in the distribution network and restore the financial health of the power utilities.

The Union Government is providing financial and technical assistance to improve the delivery of power to consumers. In return, I expect an even stronger response from the States. Only unequivocal reform measures will result in a turnaround of the power sector. Malpractices, corruption, inefficiency and theft of electricity have to be eliminated from the power sector.

The country is facing shortage of power. We need to double our generation capacity in next 10 years. Yet, ironically, there is also wastage of electricity. We are not paying enough attention to energy conservation measures.

Friends, a major distortion in our generation capacity mix has taken place over the past two decades. The share of hydropower in our total installed capacity, which was over 40 per cent 20 years back, has fallen to 25 per cent. Slow pace of implementation of hydropower projects on account of various reasons has led to this situation.

Therefore, our Government is giving highest priority to the development of hydropower. Development of hydropower will ensure the optimum utilization of our water resources. It will open up development in remote areas and provide new avenues of employment and economic activity. The cost of generation is less and free from the effects of volatile oil prices. This would also enhance our country’s energy security. While major hydropower projects may involve some environmental impacts and resettlement, with careful project design and with people’s participation, they may be minimized.

The Government has already taken some measures to accelerate the pace of execution of hydropower projects through adoption of a 3-Stage clearance process. Our efforts have already started showing results. Projects, which have been initiated under our Government, will be completed within the schedule, if not ahead of schedule. I have myself recently reviewed Teesta V project of 510 MW, which is coming up ahead of schedule. The Chamera II project of 300 MW in Himachal Pradesh is also likely to be commissioned very shortly and ahead of schedule.

Long awaited hydro-electric projects like Tehri, Indira Sagar and Nathpa Jhakri are likely to be commissioned in the near future. I am given to understand that a turnaround in hydro power project execution is in the offing. Benchmarks of good performance in construction have to be established, duplicated and replicated.

In order to ensure speedier implementation of hydro projects, we may consider a few specific suggestions.

* The National Re-settlement & Rehabilitation Plan norms for project-affected persons should be approved within a period of two months by the Union Government.

* The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) should be prepared in specific time frames and, if acceptable, should also be cleared in a specific time frame.

* State Governments should put land acquisition procedures for power projects on a fast-track mode. We will review the land acquisition and related laws to ensure that they are able to do this.

* Experience has shown that, even after a project has been sanctioned and taken up for implementation, it occasionally faces disturbances from vested interests, resulting in time and cost over-runs. Effective ways should be found to minimize such occurrences.

We have recently re-engineered the entire project cycle of central public sector and Government projects. This also involves reformulation of the structure of Detailed Project Reports, so that downstream issues of environmental impacts, resettlement, land acquisition, etc., are identified upfront and comprehensively addressed in the DPRs. Specific timeframes have also been set for the clearances by PIB, etc. These measures should help in elimination of time and cost overruns in project implementation.

Friends, I have no doubt that the initiative we are launching today would go a long way in making up for the shortfall in hydro power generation in the coming years, particularly in 11th and 12th Plans. I urge the Ministry of Power, State Governments, and private sector companies to take up this initiative in all earnestness.