Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has cautioned against the clamour to provide free power saying that people want assured, uninterrupted and quality power.
Inaugurating a three-day International Conference on ‘Recent Developments in Clean and Safe Nuclear Power Generation,’ organised by the Institution of Engineers (India), in Hyderabad today, he said free power meant low power and finally no power. “There is a misconception among politicians that of you don’t give free power you will lose power,” he added.
Naidu said one should understand that low power would lead to frequent power cuts. Therefore, the focus should be on assured power for which people are willing to pay
The Vice President said that the country is witnessing an increasing demand for energy and the consumption was only bound to go up further by 4.2 per cent per annum. Rapid urbanization and industrialisation are among the factors that would push energy demand and consumption further, he said.
Keeping the consumption in mind, he said that increasing the share of nuclear energy in the overall energy mix of the country was essential to ensure sustainable development of the nation and also to achieve India’s international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He said that clean and cost-effective energy was the need of the hour.
The Vice President said that nuclear power is a cost effective and commercially viable energy resource. A developing country like India should make good use of such an important energy source that is clean and cost-effective.
The Vice President said that one of the cheapest sources of energy being produced in India today is by a nuclear power plant (TAPS-1 & 2: 92 paisa per unit). Electricity generated by the latest Kudankulam nuclear power unit-1, sells for a little over Rs. 3 per unit, which is very competitive.
