Case of Reforms in the Indian Power Distribution Sector: A Move Towards Eradicating Energy Poverty

摘要

India's transmission and distribution losses are among the highest in the world. When nontechnical losses such as energy theft are included in the total, losses go as high as 65% in some states and average about 35- 40%. The financial loss has been estimated at 1.5% of the national GDP. These act as a major deterrent to the private as well as global investments in the sector. To address the issue of Aggregate Transmission and Commercial (AT&C) losses funding mechanism was introduced for in the form of the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (APDRP). Its key objectives were to reduce AT&C losses, improve customer satisfaction as well as financial viability of the State Distribution Companies (SDCs), adopt a systems approach and introduce greater transparency. It was in this backdrop that the Restructured APDRP (R-APDRP) was conceived in September 2008 for the 1 lth Five Year Plan (2007-12).