Date:01/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/01/stories/2008100160670300.htm

Karnataka - Mangalore

Every household will be electrified by 2012: Shinde

Staff Correspondent

START: Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde (second from right) at the inauguration of Dasara festival at Gokarnanatha temple at Kudroli in Mangalore on Tuesday.

MANGALORE: Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that all households in the country would be supplied with electricity by 2012. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Mangalore Dasara at the Kudroli Gokarnanath temple here on Tuesday, as the chief guest.

The country would be able to produce an additional 90,000 MW power by the end of the current five-year plan. “The country has been suffering from acute power shortage for the past 15 years. In the last three five-year plans, we have increased the power generation by a mere 56,000 MW,” he said.

Referring to recent communal unrest in the country, Mr. Shinde said, “They are deeply disturbing.”

He said that religious leaders such as Narayana Guru had always worked for communal harmony and coexistence. “It is time we learned to live as one caste,” he added. Mr. Shinde offered prayers at the temple and listened to the head priest’s narration of the legend behind the temple. To a query, Mr. Shinde said: “I prayed that India should become more powerful.”