Against the Current (Volume II)

A non-starter for years, reforms of the power sector in India has finally started. In relation to the country’s growth and general economic buoyancy, the power sector has not only been slow with its reforms, but is also impeding the furthering and fostering of general reforms. In that respect, delays in reform not only bear a cost in terms of budgetary and human resource, but also in terms of credibility and opportunity. Every delay worsens the situation and the margin for wider option reduces. Some opportunities that are missed today will remain irremediably so. An articulate vision makes a pivotal difference and this is now the time of understanding (i) the organizational tasks, (ii) the tariff aspects, (iii) the role of the private sector, (iv) the role of technology in the complex, variegated, state-specific, Indian scenario. This new volume in the series, Against the Current deals with tariffs and the effective role of the private sector, and offers analyses by specialists and practitioners of different disciplines. The objective is to give leads for creation of diversity suitable to face challenges of a poist-developmentalist running of the power sector. This book includes studies and papers presented and discussed at a seminar jointly organized by the Centre de Sciences Humaines and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in September 2003