New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to make strenuous efforts to improve performance of state-run NTPC in the backdrop of lower than planned expenditure by the PSU during 12th Five-Year Plan.

“..the government should make strenuous effort to improve the performance of NTPC…pre-emptive steps be taken so that the lesser expenditure during the 12th Plan should not result in truncated target for NTPC for capacity addition during the 13th Plan (2017-22),” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Power said in its report tabled in Lok Sabha.

The panel observed that even if the expected expenditure of Rs 1,20,700 crore at the end of 12th Plan (March 2017) is achieved, there would be huge shortfall of Rs 98,913 crore which stands for 45 per cent of the target (expenditure in the 12th Plan period 2012-17). Noting that the NTPC will surpass the targetted power generation capacity addition of 11,920 MW in the 12th Plan period, the committee asked, “How capacity addition targets have been fully achieved despite incurring only of the expenditure….shortfall of half of the target (expenditure) compels the committee to infer that either the planning was flawed or there were lapses in its execution.” About the scrapping projects worth Rs 26,646 crore by NTPC during the ongoing 12th Plan, the panel suggested that this may be reviewed especially when substantial expenditure has already been incurred on them. The panel also observed that against the budgetary provision of Rs 1,696 crore for the 12th Plan, a meagre Rs 296.80 crore could be utilised till January 31, 2016. It suggested that sincere efforts should be made to expand these schemes and more funds allocated at revised estimates stage. The panel observed that the number of villages that are yet to be electrified are much more than the official figure ( of 11,344 as on March 31, 2016) and there are cases where electrification of the villages has been done only in records but in reality they are still deprived of the same. Noting poor quality of electrification work carried out in the villages, the committee recommended that the government must not limit the work of electrification to the list provided by state government only and they shall be open to include any left out village if the same is brought to their notice by the local representatives or others. It also said that the definition of electrification of villages may be revisited and concepts like intensive electrification of partial electrified villages be done away with. — PTI