ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rapid economic growth has increased the burden on India’s infrastructure. Lack of good infrastructure can severely hinder economic growth .For the last few years the so called policy makers have accelerated the pace of reforms and have made concerted efforts to accelerate infrastructure development.
Much progress is witnessed in different sectors like telecom, roads ,airports but the sector which always has been lagged behind is power sector. Despite the introduction of several reforms and corrective measures the sector continues to face the wrath of fuel shortages, inefficient tariff and high transmission and distribution losses.
This study involves the surgical study of the ailing sector of Delhi, which is rumored as the ideal state in implementing the reforms for the revival of the sector.Although the state has successfully followed the privatization route which had failed in the Orissa, but the sector is still under scanner of power ministry officials.
The report enumerates different parameters to estimate the operational and financial performance of the generation ,transmission and distribution utilities of the state. The study was undertaken as a part of the client’s due diligence to review the power sector of the state. The study involved interaction with the employees of the utilities, collecting primary data ,reviewing the tariff orders, analyzing the data collected and furnishing the recommendations.
This study also incorporates the learnings from the Orissa power restructuring model and compares how Delhi avoided the pitfalls of the restructuring model by taking a planned approach. The enactment of DERA ACT has also revolutionized the ailing sector.
Advocacy of a strict regulatory environment in the state ,can help to overcome this vicious circle of insufficient fundings.Privatisation of the transmission utilty, Delhi Transco Limited can help to a certain extent. The Commision should advise to increase the dependency on the renewable sources of energy. The utilities should escape the burden of fuel price fluctuations, by passing the burden to the customers which should get reflected in the tariff structure. The tariff should be revised on a yearly basis and the accounts of the utilities should be audited to augment revenue generation and maintain transparency.
At last the report tries to compare the Delhi with that of Orissa. This comparision will furnish a better understanding how Delhi has performed/underperformed against to that of Orissa. The magnitude of the reforms to be implemented is so daunting that ,it cannot be transformed with these piecemeal measures. To achieve a significant quantum of achievement ,the state needs to adopt a radically new approach.
