The Budget gave a big boost to power reforms programme by increasing allocation to Rs 2,080 crore, or a rise of 160 per cent from the previous fiscal.

"I Propose to increase the allocation for the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme to Rs 2,080 crore, a steep increase of 160 per cent from the allocation in the budget estimates of 2008-09," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after presenting the Annual Budget today.

Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) is a government scheme for reducing the gap between power demand and supply, he said.

The Rs 50,000 crore APDRP aims to bring the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to less than 15 per cent from 35 per cent at present.

The government approved APDRP in March 2003 to accelerate distribution reforms. Besides reducing AT&C losses, the scheme also intends to bring commercial viability in the power sector by reducing outages and interruptions.

The scheme, which was restructured last year, would also focus on establishing baseline data of AT&C and sanctioning projects for improvement of distribution network. Under the scheme, the government provides 50 per cent Central assistance to upgrade sub-transmission and distribution network.