The Ministry of Power has approved an investment proposal of Rs 996 crore for capital projects of Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in order to serve the growing needs of research and development in the Indian power sector including development of advanced testing facilities.
The move will help to establish new laboratory in Western Region at Nasik. Besides it will also support establishment of new test facilities in existing laboratories of CPRI, located at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkota, Guwahati, Noida and Nagpur.
CPRI is an autonomous society under the aegis of the Ministry of Power and was set up to serve as a National level laboratory for undertaking applied research in electrical power engineering. Furthermore, the society also functions as an independent test and certification authority for electrical equipments and components for ensuring reliability in the power system.
India is still a power deficit country, facing a peak power deficit of around 3-4%. In India, electricity is produced through coal, crude oil, water and natural gas. Coal-fired plants account for around 59% of India's total installed electricity capacity. Acute coal shortage in the country has become primary reason for power deficit in the country.