Calcutta, June 11: The Centre is confident of meeting the power generation target of 44,000 megawatt set for the Tenth Five Year Plan that ends next March.

Around 19,000 mw would be added this fiscal to reach the goal, Union power secretary R.V. Shahi today said at a workshop organised by Damodar Valley Corporation.

He said Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) will meet the deadline to supply equipment to 27 power plants, enabling the generation of an additional 10,000 mw of electricity.

The power ministry yesterday took stock of Bhel’s factory at Trichy that produces boilers and other equipment.

In the current Plan period, 15,000 mw have been generated so far. The government is targeting 44,000 mw, much higher than the 35,000 mw generated in the previous two periods.

Of this, 5,000 mw will be generated from non-conventional sources like wind power, biomass and mini hydro facilities. Another 5,000 mw will be produced through the captive route.

However, there were fears of the sector failing to meet the target for the current plan.

A meeting, attended by energy secretaries of states, including Bengal, was convened on May 30 in Delhi to review the progress of power utilities. Shahi said the meeting reviewed the projects of NTPC, NHPC, Nuclear Power Corporation, state government companies and private units.

It was decided at the meeting that senior officials from the Centre, state and power utilities would visit Bhel’s Trichy factory to assess the situation and make recommendations to avoid the slippage.

“After taking stock of the situation, I am fairly confident that Bhel will meet its commitment,” Shahi said.

The roadmap set up in consultation with Bhel specifies that all equipment necessary for hydraulic tests must reach the units by July. Bhel will deliver the boilers by October 31 and equipment for synchronisation by December 31.

The schedule was drawn up to ensure that the work gets finished by the deadline, barring a delay of a month or two to stabilise the units.

Bhel will supply equipment to four units in Bengal ? two in Mejia and one each in Bakreswar and Santaldih. “We found out that about 34,000 mw, of the 36,000 mw identified during the mid-term review, will come up,” Shahi said.

The country’s installed power generation capacity is 124,000 mw. There is a shortage of 11-12 per cent at the peak period, due to the low plant load factor and inefficient consumption.

A study says 20 per cent of the total consumption is inefficient. Even if 10 per cent of this is rectified, India will no longer be a power deficient country.