Gujarat sitting pretty on power front

On the power front, Gujarat is poised quite nicely. Few states can claim 24-hour uninterrupted power supply down to the villages. There is also an 8-hour, three-phase power supply to the villages. The state has 10,000 MW of installed capacity and the deficit of around 1,000 MW, which is the lowest in the country, is bought from outside. In the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit next week, MoUs for generating 34,000 MW of power are to be signed. These projects will together cost Rs 2 lakh crore and will include thermal, wind and solar plants. This is apart from the 4000 MW ultra mega power project being set up in Mundra by the Tatas. Leading companies like Singapore-based Universal Success Enterprise, Shapoorji Pallonji, L&T, GMR, Responsive Industries, IL&FS, IDFC, Jindal group, Adani Power and Torrent Power will be signing MoUs with the state government. Says energy minister Saurabh Patel, “Even the Union power ministry acknowledges that Gujarat has done the best job with unbundling of the state electricity board and bringing about efficiency in production, transmission and distribution of power. We are now creating huge capacities which will fuel Gujarat’s growth.”