Mumbai : The 2013 POWER-GEN India & Central Asia and co-located Renewable Energy World India and HydroVision India conference and exhibition was officially opened with an Inauguration Ceremony attended by over 280 officials and delegates from the power, renewable and hydro power sectors including ministerial, executive management and professionals across the region and around the globe.

The opening session highlighted critical bottlenecks facing the industry with policies and strategy solutions to diminish gaps in the market and move forward to attain a sustainable power future and increased generation capacity.

Keynote speakers also spoke about the importance of technology and innovation as being key ingredients to higher productivity and competitiveness along with improving markets in all sectors for efficiency and inclusion. They included:

Dr. Uddesh Kohli, Advisor, POWER-GEN India & Central Asia 2013

Mr. Masafumi Wani, Representative Director & Executive Vice President, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan

Mr. L.K. Jha, Director/Technical, NTPC Ltd, India

Dr. Kirit Parikh, Former Member (Energy), Planning Commission, India

Other keynote speakers included representatives from PennWell and Inter Ads Exhibitions, co-organizers of the event. They included Mr. Glenn Ensor, Director of Events, PennWell Corporation, UK and Mr. Rajan Sharma, Managing Director, Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., India, who echoed exciting times ahead as India is set to play greater emphasis on the nation’s environment to ensure growth, inclusion, and sustainability and secure the country’s energy future.

With support from the Construction Industry Development Council established by the Planning Commission Government of India, the event is set to map out new visions to energise the power sector from regional and international standpoints from 6-8 May 2013 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai, India under the theme – “Indian Power – Time to Deliver”.

According to a RNCOS research report, ‘Indian Power Sector Analysis’, the Indian power sector will add nearly 45,000 megawatt (MW) to its total installed capacity by 2013-14, to existing production.

Further to this, the Planning Commission of India has envisaged an investment of around $1 trillion in the 12th Five Plan with half of it coming from the private sector setting an average annual growth rate target of 8% in the five year period.

The target is to reach a total generation capacity of 315 gigawatts (315,000 MW) by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period ending in fiscal 2016-17. This represents an additional 88 gigawatts planned in 12th Plan Period, 67 gigawatts in thermal, about 10 gigawatts in hydro and around 5-6 gigawatts in nuclear.

Over the course of three days, the tri-located conference and exhibition is expected to attract a global attendance of over 9,000 senior officials executives, technocrats and consultants from government and private enterprise from more than 43 countries.

Heading up the conference will be more than 100 eminent international speakers and chairmen with thought-provoking presentations and panel discussions covering all three sectors of the power sector – conventional, renewable and hydro power spread across eight sessions, all under one roof.

Current trends, cutting-edge technologies and developments and insights into case studies and benchmark projects will be discussed. Sessions that are expected to be major draw cards include Advances in Combined Cycle Technologies, Impediment to Investments in Power Sector, Policy and Regulation, PV and India’s Solar Mission, Case Studies of Successful Projects and Financing of Hydro Projects.

Running alongside the conference, the three-way exhibition will feature 262 exhibiting companies including the likes of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd, Loesche Energy Systems Ltd, Mitsubishi Power Systems India Pvt. Ltd. And Siemens Ltd. showcasing the very latest equipment, design solutions and technologies, all under one roof.

The exhibition allows visitors and delegates the chance to see first-hand new technologies being launched as well as techniques and technologies that lay the foundations for significant advancements and practical business intelligence for the future.