More Power to India : The Challenge of Electricity Distribution

Pargal, Sheoli ; Banerjee, Sudeshna Ghosh

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY;    ACTION PLAN;    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY;    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROGRAM;    AMOUNT OF POWER;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-1-4648-0233-1
RP-ID  :  88906

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report assesses progress inimplementing the government of India's power sectorreform agenda and examines the performance of the sectoralong different dimensions. India has emphasized that anefficient, resilient, and financially robust power sector isessential for growth and poverty reduction. Almost allinvestment-climate surveys point to poor availability andquality of power as critical constraints to commercial andmanufacturing activity and national competitiveness.Further, more than 300 million Indians live withoutelectricity, and those with power must cope with unreliablesupply, pointing to huge unsatisfied demand and restrictedconsumer welfare. This report reviews the evolution of theIndian power sector since the landmark Electricity Act of2003, with a focus on distribution as key to the performanceand viability of the sector. While all three segments of thepower sector (generation, transmission, and distribution)are important, revenues originate with the customer atdistribution, so subpar performance there hurts the entirevalue chain. Persistent operational and financialshortcomings in distribution have repeatedly led to centralbailouts for the whole sector, even though power is aconcurrent subject under the Indian constitution anddistribution is almost entirely under state control.Ominously, the recent sharp increase in private investmentand market borrowing means power sector difficulties aremore likely to spill over to lenders and affect the broaderfinancial sector. Government-initiated reform efforts firstfocused on the generation and transmission segments,reflecting the urgent need for adding capacity andevacuating it and the complexity of issues to be addressedat the consumer interface. Consequently, distributionimprovements have lagged, but it is now clear that they needto be a priority. This report thus analyzes the multiplesources of weakness in distribution and identifies the keychallenges to improving performance in the short and mediumterm. The report is aimed at policy makers and governmentofficials, academics, and civil society in the fields ofenergy, governance, and infrastructure economics andfinance, as well as private investors and lenders in theenergy arena.