India holds high hopes for distribution reform

摘要

The average Indian may hardly be noticing some slight improvements in the country's power distribution despite numbers revealing that it indeed has become better. Overall power deficits have been significantly-not entirely-overcome in the past year, thanks partially to the 2012 power-sector reform plan for state distribution companies taking a hard bite last year. The 2012 plan was apparently and generally not too successful as the government was gunning for a big change in distribution. With this, another reform was set in motion around November last year. Analysts reveal high hopes for the new plan as it is deemed to be better structured than its 2012 predecessor. However, Rachna Jain, analyst at Fitch Ratings, says that the take-up rate for the assistance package offered to state governments, and delivering on medium-term commitments on increasing efficiencies and further reducing losses at discoms by the state governments, will determine the success of the new measures.