New Delhi: In the wake of recent power outages in the city, Delhi government on Wednesday asked the petroleum ministry to divert gas supply meant for Pragati power plant to the newly-constructed Bawana power plant as it has more efficient machinery. The proposal, which has been approved “in principal” by the petroleum ministry, will increase power supply in Delhi by upto 60 MW. Sources said the efficiency of Bawana plant is upto 25 per cent more than the Pragati plant.

“Since we do not know by when other power plants like Dadri will start functioning back to capacity, we decided to use all our resources and have a makeshift arrangement to solve the ongoing power problem,” Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf said.

India’s dream of providing clean gas-based power stations is turning sour. Three gas-based power plants, including Pragati, Bawana and Rithala in the NCR region, with a combined capacity of over 1,730 MW, have literally “run out of gas”.

With ministry of petroleum and natural gas sources confirming that India’s gas output is expected to fall by 35 per cent in this fiscal year and another 12 per cent between 2013-14, the situation is expected to become alarming this summer.