Description: More Power to India : The Challenge of Electricity Distribution

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More Power to India : The Challenge of Electricity Distribution

This report assesses progress in implementing the government of India's power sector reform agenda and examines the performance of the sector along different dimensions. India has emphasized that an efficient, resilient, and financially robust...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Pargal, Sheoli, Banerjee, Sudeshna Ghosh
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2014
Subjects:	ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY ACTION PLAN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROGRAM AMOUNT OF POWER APPROACH AUCTIONS AVAILABILITY BACK UP BACKUP BACKUP POWER BALANCE BALANCE SHEETS BEST PRACTICES BIDDING FOR CONCESSIONS BILL COLLECTION BLOCK TARIFFS BUILDING POWER PLANTS BULK POWER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES BUSINESS OPERATION BUYERS CAPACITY BUILDING CAPITAL MARKETS CASH FLOW CERTIFICATES CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE CLEAN ENERGY CLIMATE CHANGE COAL COAL PRODUCTION COLLECTION EFFICIENCY COMMERCIAL BANKS COMMERCIAL BUSINESS COMMERCIAL RISKS COMPETITIVE BIDDING COMPETITIVE POWER MARKETS COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMER WELFARE CONVENTIONAL GENERATION COORDINATION MECHANISMS COPYRIGHT COST OF POWER COST OF SERVICE COST RECOVERY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CUSTOMER SERVICE DATA INTEGRITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES DISTRIBUTION LOSSES DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY DOMAIN DOMESTIC COAL DUE DILIGENCE E-AUCTIONS E-MAIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC REFORMS EFFICIENCY ISSUES ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY CAPACITY ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION ELECTRICITY REGULATOR ELECTRICITY SECTOR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY ELECTRIFICATION END-USERS ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY MARKETS ENERGY MIX ENTERPRISE SURVEY EXPANSION OF TRANSMISSION FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FINANCIAL VIABILITY FISCAL DEFICIT FIXED CHARGE FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOREIGN INVESTORS FRANCHISEES FUEL FUEL USE GENERATING CAPACITY GENERATION GENERATION CAPACITY GENERATORS GLOBAL STANDARDS GOVERNANCE REQUIREMENTS GOVERNMENT BONDS GOVERNMENT POLICY GRID ELECTRICITY GRID EXTENSION GRID RENEWABLE ENERGY GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH PATH HARMONIZATION HYDROPOWER IMAGES INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS INDEPENDENT REGULATION INFORMATION SYSTEM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT INNOVATIONS INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK INTERFACE INTERNAL OPERATIONS INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE INVESTMENT CLIMATE INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS JOINT VENTURES KILOWATT-HOUR LICENSE LICENSES LOAD FACTOR MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS MANUFACTURING MEDIUM ENTERPRISES MINE DEVELOPMENT MOBILE PHONES OPEN ACCESS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT OWNERSHIP SHARE PERFORMANCE MEASURES PERFORMANCE TARGETS PHOTO PILOT PROJECT POLICY FRAMEWORK POLLUTION POWER POWER AVAILABILITY POWER CONSUMPTION POWER CORPORATION POWER DISTRIBUTION POWER GENERATION POWER GENERATION CAPACITY POWER GRID POWER INDUSTRY POWER PLANTS POWER PROCUREMENT POWER PRODUCER POWER PRODUCERS POWER PURCHASE POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS POWER PURCHASE COSTS POWER PURCHASES POWER SECTOR POWER SECTOR DEVELOPMENT POWER SECTOR REFORM POWER SHORTAGES POWER SUPPLIERS PRIMARY ENERGY PRIMARY ENERGY SUPPLY PRIVATE INVESTMENT PRIVATE OPERATORS PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION PROCUREMENT PROCESS PROFESSIONAL STAFF PUBLIC FINANCE PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC POWER PUBLIC SECTOR QUERIES REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RELIABILITY RENEWABLE ENERGY RENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION RESULT RESULTS REVENUE COLLECTION REVENUE SHORTFALLS RURAL ELECTRIFICATION SOLAR ENERGY SOLAR POWER SPOT MARKET STATE UTILITIES SUPPLY CHAIN SUPPLY CONTRACTS SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TARIFF BIDS TARIFF BLOCK TARIFF LEVELS TARIFF STRUCTURES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TECHNICAL SUPPORT TELEPHONE THERMAL POWER THERMAL POWER PLANT THERMAL POWER PLANTS TRANSACTION TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSLATION TRANSMISSION GRID TRANSMISSION LINES TRANSMISSION OWNERS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM UNIVERSAL SERVICE USER USERS USES UTILITIES UTILITY OPERATIONS VALUE CHAIN VOLTAGE WIND
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/06/19703395/more-power-india-challenge-electricity-distribution http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18726

Description
Summary:	This report assesses progress in implementing the government of India's power sector reform agenda and examines the performance of the sector along different dimensions. India has emphasized that an efficient, resilient, and financially robust power sector is essential for growth and poverty reduction. Almost all investment-climate surveys point to poor availability and quality of power as critical constraints to commercial and manufacturing activity and national competitiveness. Further, more than 300 million Indians live without electricity, and those with power must cope with unreliable supply, pointing to huge unsatisfied demand and restricted consumer welfare. This report reviews the evolution of the Indian power sector since the landmark Electricity Act of 2003, with a focus on distribution as key to the performance and viability of the sector. While all three segments of the power sector (generation, transmission, and distribution) are important, revenues originate with the customer at distribution, so subpar performance there hurts the entire value chain. Persistent operational and financial shortcomings in distribution have repeatedly led to central bailouts for the whole sector, even though power is a concurrent subject under the Indian constitution and distribution is almost entirely under state control. Ominously, the recent sharp increase in private investment and market borrowing means power sector difficulties are more likely to spill over to lenders and affect the broader financial sector. Government-initiated reform efforts first focused on the generation and transmission segments, reflecting the urgent need for adding capacity and evacuating it and the complexity of issues to be addressed at the consumer interface. Consequently, distribution improvements have lagged, but it is now clear that they need to be a priority. This report thus analyzes the multiple sources of weakness in distribution and identifies the key challenges to improving performance in the short and medium term. The report is aimed at policy makers and government officials, academics, and civil society in the fields of energy, governance, and infrastructure economics and finance, as well as private investors and lenders in the energy arena.