Power crisis in Bihar would be a thing of the past by 2015 as the state would have 5500 MW of power to meet domestic demand, Power Minister Bijrendra Prasad Yadav told the Assembly on Thursday.
And by 2016-17 when all the power projects at Navi Nagar, Pirpatai, Chausa and Kajra were likely to start generation, the overall availability would reach 10,000 MW to make Bihar a power surplus state, Yadav said.
Coal linkage for these proposed power projects have been approved by the Centre, he said while replying to a debate on his department's supplementary demand of Rs 2136 crore under the Bihar Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2013.
Stating that the JD(U) government was on threshold of fulfilling Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's promise of making the state power sufficient by the end of the second term of his government, he said the thrust was now on putting in place distribution and transmission infrastructure for which Rs 10,000 crore would be spent over the next couple of years.
During the debate, BJP MLAs pointed to the "bonhomie" between JD(U) and Congress in the wake of allocation of coal linkages to proposed power projects in Bihar.
The power minister denied the charge saying the coal block allocation for the power projects in Bihar was done by the Centre not on the ground of political consideration, but on account of pressure by power ministers of various states.
Not only Bihar was beneficiary of coal linkages, but Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states too have received coal blocks for power projects, he said.
Leader of the Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav asked the power minister to explain as to why Bihar had sold 500 MW power even it has itself been facing acute shortage.
However, the minister did not answer to it.
Senior BJP MLA Ashwani Chaube also wanted to know as to why the state government had failed to supply sufficient power to the weavers in Bhagalpur despite promise made by the chief minister earlier year.
This also evoked no reply from Yadav. The Bihar Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2013 was passed by the house by a voice vote.
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