New Delhi: Union Power Minister RK Singh said on Tuesday that as much as 59,810 MW of thermal power generation capacity is under construction currently. Out of this, a total of 23,730 MW is to be developed by private players, Singh told the Parliament. In a written response submitted in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said that the under-construction projects under the Central sector totalled 18,320 MW, and those under the state sector stood at 17,760 MW. The minister also said that large hydro projects (above 25 MW) of 14,014 MW were presently under construction.
Elaborating on the reasons behind the delay in the implementation of these projects and cost-overrun, Singh said, "The major reasons for time overrun in respect of the thermal and hydel projects are related to availability of materials and equipment, land issues and inter-state matters. The cost overrun arises from increase in interest rate, inflation and change in scope of the project."
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Singh also told the Rajya Sabha that the share of renewable energy (RE) in India's total power generation capacity stands at 23.82 percent as on August 31. On March 31, this year, the figure stood at 23.51 percent, which shows that there's only a nominal increase over the course of the last five months. At the end of March 2019, RE share was at 21.80 percent.
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