Governance of Rural Electricity Systems in India

After six decades of independence about half of rural households in the country do not have access to electricity and the quality and quantity of electricity provided to rural users are far from expectation. Large technical and commercial loss makes the rural electricity system financially unviable. The overall governance of rural electricity system has polluted the existing socio-political and economic environment to an extent that rational decision making has become far too difficult. The structural reform in electricity sector that started since early nineties has not resulted in improved services to the rural customers in spite of a significant increase in electricity tariff. From the experiences in India and around the world, the book provides directions for rural electricity system development in the country considering the development concerns, regulatory and policy issues, technology options and tariff, and governance mechanism. The book will be useful for the policymakers, regulators, rural electricity service providers, financial institutions, academicians, students and civil society organisations interested in rural electricity.