Development of Power in India Particularly of West Bengal and its Shortfall

The first generating plant in India was installed in Darjeeling in 1897 about 17 years after Edison's invention of generating plant for domestic lighting. This was a hydro electric station with 130 K.W. capacity. Calcutta was to have the next public electric supply system with a steam plant of 1000 K.W. In 1912 this power station was enlarged to 15,000 KW. After about two years Tata Hydro Electric Power Company erected the Hydro Power Station at Khopoli taking water from the artificial reservoir from Lonavala through aquaduct, near Poona. The capacity of the plant was about 0.50 million K.W. In 1917 there were about 28 electrical undertakings in India and Burma and their total load was 0.129 million K.W. The total electric generating capacity in the country in 1950 was approximately 2.3 million K.W. of which 17 million K.W. was accounted for by Thermal stations and the remaining about .6 million K.W. by hydro electric plants. Bombay, Mysore and West Bengal are more developed than other parts of India. The two cities Bombay and Calcutta alone consumed about 40 per cent of the total power generated. The average per capita consumption for the entire country was 14 Kwh. before the beginning of the first plan.