Despite efforts to ramp up indigenous coal production, the Planning Commission feels that India will still face a shortfall of about 200 million tonnes of the fuel source by the end of the 12th Plan Period.
I. A. Khan, Advisor Energy, Planning Commission, said India would have to depend on imported coal, unless it is able to tap other natural resources to a greater extent for power production.
3-pronged strategy
India’s coal demand is estimated to go up from 640 million tonnes (mt) in 2011-12 to about 980 mt by the end of the 12{+t}{+h} Plan (2012-17), by which time its production could reach 795 mt. “The shortfall will still be about 200 mt, given other factors,” he said at a meeting organised by the AP Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The Planning Commission has come out with a three-pronged strategy to combat the energy woes. This involves making full use of available resources, enhancing renewable energy production and moving towards a more energy efficient regime. “We have planned a capacity addition of 1.18 lakh MW of energy during the 12{+t}{+h} Plan, up from 69,251 MW in the last Plan. And out of this, the share of renewable energy in the current Plan is targeted at 30,000 MW, up from 14,267 MW added in the last Plan,” Khan said.
The share of renewable energy in the total energy production is estimated to go up to 16 per cent from six per cent in the last Plan.
On grid connectivity, he expected the Southern grid to be connected to the Northern one by February next year . “The current capacity of energy flow between the two grids is about 3,000 MW, which could go up to 7,000-8,000 MW after the grid connectivity,” he said.