Montek calls for Japanese participation in power front

New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today invited the international bidders particularly Japan for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the energy sector.

''We are inviting private participation from international bidders, looking at an investment of roughly 60 billion dollars in electricity generation,'' Mr Ahluwalia told reporters here.

He said the total investment therefore would be close to 120 billion dollars across all the sectors such as power, petroleum and coal.

He, however, promised that the Government will make the complicated regulatory mechanisms investment friendly in the country, adding it would ease out the methods of obtaining regulatory approvals.

To secure power generation, the ultra-mega power generation projects would be steps in this direction.

Two mega projects are in the pipeline: one is a large-scale project based on imported coal and the other is a domestic project based on domestic coal, he said.

''Till now, seven sites have been identified for the ultra-mega power projects, and exploration works are on on five such sites,'' Mr Ahluwalia said.

He said the international bids have also been invited.

However, Mr Ahluwalia said the Government is in constant touch with the state governments to put in place captive coal mine projects for the international bids.

Highlighting the importance of non-conventional energy, he said India's capacity for nuclear power production is 3,000 MW presently which is expected to go up to 10,000 MW.

Mr Ahluwalia said if the current research on the fast breeder reactor is anything to go by, in which again Japan is a world leader, the capacity would increase up to 30,000 MW.

He invited Japan for extending its support to the country's ongoing exploration work in the Bay of Bengal for gas hydrates.

UNI SBA DKS RAI2009