NEW DELHI-Power Planning Evading the Issues

NEW DELHI Power Planning: Evading the Issues B M THE recent Power Ministers' conference failed to come to grips with basic issues in power planning and ended up with only a general consensus on more rapid development of power generation capacity and transmission network. The Central Power Minister, Ghani Khan Choudhury, had been blowing hot and cold since assuming office about revamping the national power system, with the emphasis mainly on the Centre taking over the entire enterprise in its own hands in order to do the job with the assistance of the World Bank and big business houses in the private sector. But all that he managed to secure was a broad agreement that creation of a national power grid should be given high priority in power planning and that the Centre should speed up the setting up of pithead super thermal power stations and initiate action on launching some large hydro projects. As for opening up power generation to the private sector, the issue does not seem to have even been raised at the conference.