Under the coal-based Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), each with a capacity of 4,000 MW, nine sites were identified; one each in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Development work is being undertaken in the Mundra Project awarded to the Tata Power Company and the Sasan and Krishnapatnam UMPPs awarded to the Reliance Power Ltd.
1. There are 40 hydro projects with an aggregate capacity of 13,085 MW under construction. Private sector participation has been increasing; there are 11 schemes with an installed capacity of 4,111 MW under construction in private sector. 84 schemes with an installed capacity 22,383 MW have been allotted to private developers by states.
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2. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued guidelines for setting up power exchange and has also given approval to two (2) applications for setting up power exchange.
The two power exchanges, viz. the Indian Energy Exchange Ltd. (IEX), New Delhi and the Power Exchange India Ltd. (PXIL), Mumbai have already started their operations in 2008.
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3. The Ministry of Power signed with the states to undertake time bound distribution reforms. 28 States have constituted independent regulatory commissions and 23 SERCs have issued tariff orders for rationalizing tariffs.
States are moving towards Multi-Year Tariff (MYT), Time of Day (ToD) metering and intra-state Availability Based Tariff (ABT). 16 SEBs/ Electricity Departments have been unbundled and corporatized, and 23 SERCs have issued open access regulations. Consumer Grievances Redressal Forums and Ombudsmen have been constituted/appointed in 22 States.
4. The Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (APDRP) was launched in 2002- 03 as additional central assistance to states for strengthening and upgrading sub-transmission and distribution systems of high-density load centres, in order to reduce AT&C loss and commercial loss and to improve quality and reliability of supply.
It was decided to continue APDRP during the Eleventh Five Year Plan, with revised terms and conditions, as a Central Sector Scheme, with a size of Rs. 51,577 crore, focused on actual, demonstrable outcomes in loss reduction. Towns and cities with a population of more than 30,000 and certain high-load density rural areas would be covered under the scheme.