Chennai: India's generation capacity will be more than a billion units by 2012, providing every citizen at least one unit of electricity, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said here Saturday.

"There is a power shortage in the country now, but the situation is slowly improving," he told reporters.

India's total power generation capacity is 1,34,716.63 MW. However, the demand thanks to the growing economy is outpacing the addition in supply.

The minister declined to comment on the India-US nuclear deal that is expected to open the floodgates of a safe source of energy for the country.

India will become a power-surplus nation by the year 2012, claimed Shinde, who was in Chennai to meet Dalit activists of his Congress party.