Over 18 thousand two hundred megawatt of electricity has been added to the pool in the current five-year plan so far. Union Power Minister Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde told economic editors conference in the capital on Wednesday morning that a capacity addition of over 62 thousand megawatts will be achieved in the plan period. The target for the plan period is over 78 thousand megawatts and it has been down sized due to certain problems in getting clearances for the projects. Replying to questions, he said, several initiatives have been launched to achieve the target so as to ensure faster economic growth. They include setting up of ultra mega power projects, capacity addition in hydro and gas-based power projects besides tapping the non-conventional sources of energy including the wind and the solar power. Apart from this, the minister said that the work for setting up new nuclear power plants has begun and they will be ready for generating electricity in 5 years time. He asserted that private sector has also been involved in this process and focus is on the energy conservation and efficiency. Giving details of the measures taken by his ministry in this direction, he urged people to cooperate in this initiative. In reply to a question that China is constructing a dam on the river Brahmputra, he said that New Delhi is keenly watching the developments on its borders with the neighboring countries. A leading newspaper published from Delhi reported that remote sensing satellite pictures show that China is constructing a dam along the boarder.