From Lattus to Lasers: Realising India’s Electricity Potential

  • Author(s): Sanjeev S Ahluwalia
  • Size: 140 mm × 210 mm
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Pages: 84
  • ISBN: 9789394657021
  • Cover Price:

    Rs.299.00 / US $21.00

  • Special Price: Rs. 270.00 / US $19.00

Book Details

The history of electricity in India traces an inverted arc – like a smiley – which starts in the colonial period with private electricity capacity leading, regresses to a mode of near complete public sector monopoly by the 1980s and then traces the upward incline to a near 50% share for private electricity suppliers – not a full smiley but a slightly lop-sided one. The half-smile – like Mona Lisa’s – masks long periods of misallocation of public capital, unabashed populism, and careless adherence to ‘path dependencies’ which plagues bureaucracies the world over. This book asks a few inconvenient questions and provides some out-of-the-box solutions with the intention of enlarging the public debate around how the electricity sector should be regulated and developed going forward.

… most impressive is the vast historical canvass it covers placing the electricity sector in the framework of national economic ‘reform’ leading to industry restructuring and the introduction of autonomous regulation, which remain works in progress.

Dr Pramod Deo, former Chairman, CERC

… encapsulates an ‘electric’ journey of over a 100 years in a succinct yet comprehensive manner. It is a key to understanding the fundamentals of the Indian electricity sector.

Gireesh B Pradhan, former Chairman, CERC and former Secretary, MNRE

An innocuous subject like electricity springs to life when viewed through the lens of a seasoned policy analyst and researcher. Weaves an intricate tale of the twists and turns of the electricity sector from the restrictive days of colonial rule through consolidation to its present-day spread across the country. The finale is a transformational framework to make the sector future-ready, although … the proposal of multi-state electricity regulators does not fi t the context of India’s fractious and divisive politics.

Prabir Neogi, Chief Advisor (Corporate Affairs), RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group

… does not stop at only presenting the history and challenges … also proposes bold reform measures, including privatization of distribution and establishment of regional regulators. There may be divergent opinions about some of the measures, but I am sure every stakeholder will agree with the following observation, “India needs to enhance its energy resilience and security. This is possible if the spirit of cooperative federalism suff uses institutional arrangements and public interest trumps political upmanship.”

Shantanu Dixit, Prayas (Energy Group), Pune

Target Audience

    Adults who are concerned about topical issues but lack the understanding to make sense of what they read or watch in the mass media.

Table of Contents

    Foreword
    Preface

    Introduction

    Electricity dispels the darkness
    The origins of electricity
    The colonial period: electricity for the elite: 1950–1984

    Democratizing electricity supply
    The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948
    Central planning favours public investment-led development
    The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956
    The fiscal cost of public electricity supply
    Electricity-intensive development
    Changes in consumption pattern

    The return of private investment: 1985–2020
    International comparison of electricity supply
    Profligate use of electricity shunned
    Incentives for electricity reform
    Union government’s initiatives for structural reform in electricity

    The outcomes of reforms
    The end of supply shortages
    Generation capacity utilization lower than optimal
    Transmission shines
    Private power exchanges
    Discoms: the weakest link in the value chain
    The unfinished reforms agenda

    Planned electricity development: supply-side triumph or copycat industrial policy?
    Putting industrial development above basic social and human needs
    Throwing out the baby with the bathwater
    Misallocation of public funds
    Borrowed templates
    Path dependency
    Economic growth and competitiveness
    New pathologies

    Unresolved issues in electricity supply
    Electricity suppliers: too few or too many?
    Has competition in supply increased?
    Has the unbundling splintered supply to unviable levels?
    Measures to enhance competition
    Autonomy for regulators
    The needs of viable power markets
    The need for a ‘smart’ grid
    Four short-term hard choices

    Trends favouring India
    High growth can make green power affordable
    Renewable and hydroelectricity offer unutilized potential
    Growth of digital connectivity
    Symmetric policy preferences across parties

    Bibliography and notes

Keywords

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