The government on Thursday promised at least 5,000MW of power by 2015 — an increase of around 500MW from its earlier stated stand.

“The state is all set to get 660MW from the two units of 1,320MW Barh super-thermal power project going to be commissioned in November 2013 and October 2014, respectively. It will also receive 440MW from the renovated and modernised units of Barauni and Kanti thermal power units by the end of this year,” energy minister Bijendra Yadav said at the Assembly.

“Besides, the state will get 390MW and 500MW from Muzaffarpur and Barauni units on the completion of their expansion work by end of 2014 and 100MW of its share from joint projects of the railways and NTPC in Aurangabad district next year. A long-term agreement to buy 1,060MW from the market, which would get operational from July 2014, would continue for 25 years. The state, as of now, has already been receiving 2,034MW from power in its share from the central sectors,” he said.

“The government has carried out phenomenal work in the power infrastructure in the last over seven years — too short a time in the context of power plants that have long gestation periods. The work is in progress at war footing on the 3,960MW mega power project at Nabinagar. With the Centre allotting 446 million tonnes of coal linkage, the work on the proposed Kajra, Chousa and Pirpainti power projects will begin soon. The state is all set to be a major power-generating base in the next seven to 10 years,” the minister said.

The BJP members, including Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav, Achyutanand Singh, Ramadhar Singh and Priyaranjan Patel, pointed out that the government, which was unable to improve the dilapidated distribution system in the state and replace thousands of transformers lying burnt in the rural areas for years, was making “tall and impractical claims”.

They staged a walk out, protesting the government’s “failure to improve transmission and distribution system in the state”.

The minister, however, added that the government had spent a staggering Rs 4,000 crore in changing the old and defunct transmission and distribution lines in the state in the last five to seven years. “There is a proposal to spend Rs 6,000 crore more on the same to enable the system to properly transmit the power to the consumers.”