And now, it threatens to place the switch button of a very large number of the country's power plants, new and old, in the hands of Chinese suppliers and engineers. India has never been so deeply involved with a single country - not even with the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1960s and early 1970s - to build its vital core sector such as power having strong strategic and security implications.

The development is really scary as over a dozen Indian power generation companies are setting up their power plants with the help of Chinese technology, equipment and engineers and consultants in various parts of the country. The list of these companies reads like the who's who in the private sector power industry. Name a large private sector power company, which is not shopping in China for plant and machinery. The list includes Tata Power, Reliance, Essar, JSW Energy, Sterlite, GMR, Adani, KSK Energy, Indiabulls Power, AES India, CLP Power and GVK. The numbers of power plants, which are being constructed with imported Chinese capital goods, are some 30 till date. More are in the planning stage. Over 3,000 Chinese engineers and technicians are said to be working in India to erect and commission these power plants.

The data available with the Union Power Ministry makes a sensational revelation that Chinese suppliers are involved in building a capacity of 15,725 MW in India within the current 11th Plan period, representing almost 20 per cent of the plan target. Further, Indian companies have placed power plant and equipment orders with Chinese suppliers for a combined additional capacity of 10,170 MW due for commissioning in the early part of the 12th Plan or around 2012-13, accounting for over 30 per cent of the targeted capacity for the next Plan for which work has already begun. The cost of equipment for a combined 25,895 MW capacity placed on Chinese manufacturers and suppliers could be well over $ 20 billion at current prices.

Interestingly, when Indian politicians were busy debating the virtues of the Indo-US civilian nuclear co-operation deal during the previous Left-backed UPA regime, China was busy marketing its thermal power plant machinery quietly in the country to great effect. The Indo-US nuclear power deal is projected to help India raise its nuclear power generation capability to only 20,000 MW by 2030, a five-fold increase over the present capacity of just around 4,000 MW. Over the last three years or so, China had already contracted the sale of power plants for a total capacity of nearly 26,000 MW. China is also making an entry into the field of lucrative maintenance and engineering consultancy services for the existing power plants in India.

The sudden rush by Indian companies for Chinese power equipment and engineering services in such a big fashion is rather inexplicable except for the fact that Chinese boilers and turbines could be cheaper than those from other traditional but reliable supply sources such as Germany, the US, Japan, Sweden, France and the UK. This could as well be a case of 'dumping' by the state-owned Chinese manufacturers. It is somewhat surprising that none of the Indian importers seems to be concerned about the quality, durability and reliability of hitherto untested Chinese power plants and equipment and the capability of their engineers and maintenance staff.

Only a few months ago, Chinese power plant maintenance engineers employed by the West Bengal government for a trouble-shooting assignment at the state-run Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL) were engaged in fisticuffs with the power plant's own maintenance staff as the Chinese engineers failed to rectify the trouble and the power plant had to be shut down for days. The fault was ultimately located and repaired by the local engineers but only after several Chinese and Indian maintenance engineers were injured in a nasty brawl and the Chinese staff were temporarily taken off the job. Both the DPL management and the state government downplayed the incident. A similar incident involving some less competent Chinese engineers in another West Bengal power plant was reported shortly after the DPL experience.

The growing Chinese interest and involvement in India's power sector are raising many critical questions, the security concern being the uppermost of them. The union external affairs ministry has already raised an alarm bell on the issue. The ministry is said to be reluctant to recommend visa extension for thousands of Chinese technical personnel working in Indian power plants citing security reasons. The matter was referred to the department of external affairs by the ministry of home affairs. While the Indian government did not allow a Chinese naval dock engineering firm to build a deep sea port in Kerala nearly three years ago, Reliance Industries had reportedly engaged Chinese engineers for building gas pipeline on the south-eastern coast along Andhra Pradesh.

How can the Chinese power equipment manufacturing industry, which is under pressure to meet its own domestic demands in the energy-starved China, accept such large Indian orders for as many as 30 power plants for delivery within such a short span? Is China starving its own energy sector for the sake of Indian orders? If it is so, why? Are the imports being made on f.o.b or c.i.f basis? Are we using Chinese vessels and Chinese insurance companies? Does Chinese suppliers offer any guarantee for making spare parts available to Indian power plants at times of crisis? Why didn't the Indian importers join together to form a consortium, taking advantage of the volume, to buy the power plants from the global market to strike good bargains? After all, several highly reputable heavy electrical engineering firms in the West and Japan are having large idle capacities for want of fresh local demands and also due to the global recession.

Perhaps the time has come to ask: Is it safe to invite China to control part of India's vital power sector in such an atmosphere of animosity and diplomatic distrust? (IPA Service)