Even as the Union Cabinet approved modifications to the existing mega power policy, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was caught on the defensive today as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pointed out that the country’s economy was growing at 9 per cent and the power sector needed to match up.

Mukherjee’s intervention came after Shinde, responding to Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath’s suggestion that the power sector needed to attract private investments, contended that the production of power had increased substantially as compared to the past. The Finance Minister then pointed out that the demand for power had grown as well, and the power sector needed to commensurate with an economy that was growing at 9 per cent.

The Power Ministry, over the past couple of years, has failed to meet its own projections of power generation. For instance, in 2007-08, as against a promised 16,500 MW of additional electricity, the ministry was able to add only 9,300 MW. In 2008-09 too, the ministry’s projection of adding 11,061 MW had to be scaled down to 7,530 MW.

Nath, who has been holding road shows in the US, South East Asia and Europe to attract private investors, underlined the need for investments in the power sector. In his defence, Shinde is reported to have cited the problems being faced in the supply of coal.

Following a detailed discussion, it was decided that key infrastructure ministries like Power, Road Transport and Highways, Railways and Civil Aviation would hold talks with the Finance Minister and devise a strategy to deal with the matter.

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