Historically a power deficit state with poor water and fossil-fuel resources, Rajasthan has taken significant strides in the power sector in the past few years. Rajasthan is moving at lightening speed to be able to light up every corner of the State by the mid of 2008.

Bridging the Gap
Currently, the total power generation capacity in the State is 6223 MW. To bridge the gap between demand and supply, the State plans to add 1180 MW in the state sector and 2000 MW in the private sector by 2012.
Existing power supply is being augmented and work has commenced at new power plants at Giral, Dholpur, Chhabra, Kota (Unit VII), Suratgarh (Unit VI) and Barsinger.

Newly Commissioned Power Plants
Three new power units have recently been commissioned: a 125 MW lignite-based thermal power plant at Giral in Barmer district and two units of 110 MW gas-based thermal power plant at Dholpur.

The State Government’s feeder renovation programme has brought light into Mukesh’s life while it brought 24-hour power to his village, Chhitoli, about 90 kilometres from Jaipur. Over 14,000 villages in the State have been covered and T&D losses have come down from a staggering 40-45% to under 20%. Extra power made available has lit up hundreds of villages like Chhitoli. Mukesh, with his father and two brothers, carves out statues in Marble and other stones for his buyers in Jaipur, and of late, even other cities. In fact, majority of the 2,000 people in the village earn their living out of mechanised stone carving. Over the last year, everything has changed. Power cuts, voltage fluctuations, and noisy diesel generators are a thing of the past. Costs are down. Besides, occasionally, an additional half shift in the evening means additional income for the family. This means better education for children and better healthcare for everyone. The local healthcare centre now has a refrigerator for medicines and vaccines.

Power Plants under Construction
Six more units are under construction that would shortly add 1180 MW to the State's supply.

Capacity		Target Commissioning Schedule
Dholpur	110 MW	Dec ‘07
Giral II	125 MW	June ’08
Chhabra (I & II)	500 MW	Aug ‘08 - Nov ‘08
KTPS Unit VII	195 MW	Nov ’08
STPS Unit VI	250 MW	Sept ‘08

Capacity Additions by Private Organisations
Over 2000 MW of power capacity is being installed by private sector through wind, biomass and lignite-based power plants over the next two years. A policy to Promote Private Investment in Power Generation is in place. The policy includes exemption from stamp duty on execution deeds, exemption/remission from various taxes on capital goods and facility of single window clearance.

Tapping Renewable Sources of Energy
Rajasthan is amongst the leading states in the country to tap wind energy for the generation of electricity. To promote private investment in this sector, a Policy for Promoting Generation of Electricity through Non Conventional Energy Sources was issued in 2004. Currently, Wind Power Projects with a total capacity of 450 MW have been installed in the State. 800 MW wind power capacity is expected to be installed in the next 18 months.

Biomass is another rich potential non-conventional source of energy. Power projects based on biomass of total 46.3 MW capacity have been installed in the State and another two projects based on biomass totalling to 15.5 MW are under implementation. To tap solar power, a 140 MW solar power plant is planned to be set up at Mathania, near Jodhpur.

Lighting up the Villages
Rural electrification has always been a challenge in the State owing to scattered settlements, low density of population and resultant high cost of delivery. To power the villages economically, Solar Photo Voltaic Domestic Lighting Systems (DLS) are being installed in households with a subsidy from the State Government.
During the last 4 years, 1,790 villages have been electrified, 117,157 wells have been energised and 252,211 Kutir Jyoti connections to BPL (Below Poverty Line) families released.

Feeder Renovation
An ambitious Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Vijay Jyoti Feeder Sudhar Abhiyan, has been undertaken to bring down the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) losses and improve the quality of power. Already, over 14,000 villages in the State have been covered and T&D losses have come down from a staggering 40-45% to under 20%. Such villages are being supplied with 24 hours of domestic power. T&D losses in the State were brought down by over 6% in 2006-07. By 2008-09, all 8,474 rural feeders will be covered, to reduce T&D losses by 15%. To ensure efficient supply and distribution of power, a special monitoring cell has been set up. There are monitoring committees at the grid and sub-station levels comprising public representatives, farmers and officials. These committees monitor power supply, ensure equitable distribution of power and handle dispute resolution.

Carbon Credits
Eco-friendly projects like 14.8 MW wind farm and LGO beneficiation by using roller press technology of Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited (RSMML) have been registered as CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects by UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). The first lot of 57004 CER (Carbon Emission Reduction) credits issued to RSMML by UNFCCC in September 2006 in lieu of saving in emission, were sold to buyers of France and Australia, through online auction generating revenue of Rs.3.75 crore in February 2007. Two more such projects of RSMML are in the pipeline for registration with UNFCCC. RSMML is the first PSU in India to get revenue from sale of CERs for its projects.