Mr KC Venugopal minister of state for power informed the Lok Sabha that the present installed power generation capacity in the country as on 31.10.2011 is 182689.62 MW. Thermal power projects of 78545 MW and hydro power projects of 15707 MW are under construction in the country for likely commissioning during 11th and 12th Plan.
In order to attract foreign investments in the power sector, Foreign Direct Investment up to 100% is permitted under automatic route for projects of electricity generation (except atomic energy), transmission, distribution and power trading.
Foreign Direct Investment equity inflows from April 2008 to September 2011 in power sector are as under:
| Sector | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | Total |
| Power | 4033.47 | 6138.32 | 5796.22 | 5657.3 | 21625 |
(Amount in INR crores)
Major contributing countries to the FDI equity inflows during this period are France, Mauritius, Singapore, UAE, United Kingdom, USA and Morocco. USD 330.99 million of FDI equity has been received from USA in the power sector during April 2008 to September, 2011.
