HEADLINES:  

India has the world's fifth-largest power generation capacity in the world and being a developing country its stakes are high in the world arena. The Indian power sector is one of the most diversified sectors in the world. Power in India is generated from various sources like coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power as well as non-conventional sources like wind, solar, agriculture and domestic waste.

The demand for electricity in the country has been growing at a rapid rate and is expected to increase further in the years to come with the rising population. Electricity production in India stood at 911.6 terra watt hour (TWh) in FY13, a four per cent growth over the previous fiscal. Over FY07-13, electricity production has expanded at a CAGR of 5.5 per cent. The Planning Commission's 12th Plan projects that total domestic energy production would reach 669.6 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) by 2016-17 and 844 MTOE by 2021-22.


As of April 2013, total thermal installed capacity stood at 151.7 gigawatt (GW), while hydro and renewable energy installed capacity totalled 39.6 GW and 27.5 GW, respectively. Nuclear energy capacity remained broadly constant from that in the previous year, at 4.8 GW. For the 12th Five-Year Plan, a total of 88.5 GW of power capacity addition is targeted, of which 72.3 GW constitutes thermal power, 10.8 GW of hydro power and 5.3GW of nuclear power.

The capacity addition target for 2013-14 is 1,198 MW of hydro power, 15,234 MW of thermal power and 2,000 MW of nuclear power. Total capacity target is 18,432 MW. The industry attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 37,335.68 crore (US$ 6.01 billion) during April 2000 to July 2013. The Government of India has set a target to generate 10,000 MW of power through solar energy by 2017. Wind energy accounts for an estimated 87 per cent of total installed capacity in renewable energy. There are plans to double wind power generation capacity to 20 GW by 2022. Biomass is the second largest source of renewable energy, accounting for 12 per cent of total installed capacity in renewable energy. Solar energy accounts for one per cent of total renewable energy installed capacity. However, solar energy potential stands at an estimated 5,000 TWh per annum.

  INDIAN power Industry AT A Glance IN 2012 - 2013

  INDIAN power Industry AT A Glance IN 2011 - 2012

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