Orissa to be India's power hub soon, 10,000 MW more by 2012:Minister

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) Orissa Minister for Energy, IT&Culture Surya Narayan Patro today said the state will soon be one of India's power hubs with generation of at least 10,000 megawatt (MW) by 2012.

''We are going to be one of the power hubs of the country shortly ...the state is expected to generate at least 10,000 MW by 2012,'' the Minister said, while speaking at the inaugural session of 28th edition of India International Trade Fair (IITF).

The twin themes of 14-day fair, which has been organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), are infrastructure and women's empowerment.

Orissa, which is participating as partner state in the event, has signed 13 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with 30 independent power plants to generate more than 70,000 MW with an investment of Rs 87,000 crore, Mr Patro apprised.

''Not only independent power plants but also State and Central sector plants propose to put up another 15,000 MW plant,'' he said.

Regarding the IT sector, the Minister said, ''the companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Satyam, already have their presence in the state and it expects an employment of over four lakh till 2012 in the sector...we have created an infrastructure of many SEZs corridors to promote IT industries in the state.'' Besides, the state is investing over Rs 8,000 crore in infrastructure sector, particularly on road projects through funding from banks and Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

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