Centre's assurance for meeting energy demands for Games

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today categorically stated that the Centre will be able to meet the stupendous energy demand of the city for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2010.

With less than 1,000 days to go for the CWG to begin, there is insufficient capacity to provide power to Delhi during the mega event.

''We are confident that we will be able to meet the power demand during the CWG. We are working out the details," Mr Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Last month, a high-level Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Power Secretary Anil Razdan had met at the Shram Shakti Bhavan here to discuss the implementation of new power projects for the Games.

The energy requirements for the Games have been estimated at over 7,000 MW while the current capacity is only of 4,500 MW.

According to informed sources, the requirement is expected to be met from three plants being built by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and two power plants by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

The sources, however, said Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) have not yet been signed for DVC's Bawana power project, while fuel linkage has not been secured for the Bamnoli plant.

The Minister said that the Ministry was working on the tie-ups and will sort out the issues soon.

The Committee is tying up the loose ends in conjunction with the Delhi government.

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