New Delhi, Sept. 24 (pti): A group of ministers (GoM) today set up a panel to prepare recommendations on funding power projects in the 11th and 12th Five Year plan periods and other issues such as financing under priority sector lending.

The sub-committee will be headed by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The power ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa will be members of the panel.

Power secretary Anil Razdan, Central Electricity Authority chairperson Rakesh Nath and Power Finance Corporation chairman V.K. Garg have been appointed permanent invitees to the committee, an official statement said.

The government has set an ambitious target of adding more than 78,000mw of generation capacity in the 11th plan. The sector will require nearly Rs 10,00,000 crore during 2007-12.

Power related issues are at the centrestage as the sector is the key driver of economic growth.

There is an urgent need to substantially enhance power availability at a rapid pace, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said at the first meeting of the GoM.

Task force

A task force on hydro power development will also be set up with Shinde as the chairman and Ahluwalia as the co-chairman.

The task force will include renewable energy minister Vilas Muttemwar, water resources minister Saifuddin Soz and rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. The power ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal and Assam will also be its members.

Nath and Planning Commission member (energy) Kirit Parekh will be the permanent invitees.

The task force will resolve issues relating to hydro power development such as allocation of sites, environmental clearances, rehabilitation, sharing costs and benefits of power generation, water storage and flood moderation of hydro power projects.