In a stunning censure of the UPA government, an internal document of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) accuses it of putting brakes on increasing power generation, stating that  "the reforms impetus was virtually abandoned" since the UPA came to power in 2004.

The power ministry played a pivoted role in the reform process during the period of 1998-2003 (NDA regime) while "subsequent five years can only be called a half decade of missed opportunities," says the PMO note dated June 30, 2009 that was released by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday.

The document came into the public domain thanks to the Right to Information (RTI) Act used by a Patiala resident. In a critical review of the power projects, it says: "After some initial positive movements in 2004-05, the power sector fell off the reforms map for the rest of the government's tenure."

"Having conspicuously failed to add even 50 per cent of the target capacity addition of 44,000 Megawatt in the 10th Five-Year Plan, leaders of the sector pitched for an absurdly high target of 78,000 MW in the 11th Plan," the document said underlining how only 15,000 MW could be actually added till June 2009.

It noted that unlike the 10th Plan programme, "the full responsibility for progress or lack of it will be on the UPA government." A director in PMO painted the dismal scenario in the note, suggesting a high-level meeting between the prime minister and the power minister to speed up the power reforms.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad released the note to point out how Dr Manmohan Singh's own dream of putting India on the fast track of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is shattered by an under-performing power sector. "In Fact, persistent shortfalls on account of electricity generation held back our GDP growth." Prasad said these are not his words but a conclusion of the PMO over which Manmohan Singh presides.