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December28, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Deaths by Water - and Environmental Degradation >> |
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From: "Viren" <vlobo_1@hotmail.com> Date: Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:31pm Subject: Electricity Act - An agenda for review The article Electricity Act 2003 : Agenda for review by R Regi kumar in EPW October 30- Nov 5 2004 throws up some interesting facts 1. While unbundling has been mooted as a solution, this is not corroborated by empirical evidence. Some of the best run electricity utilities are still vertically integrated . Ex are Electricity de France( EdF ). Eskom ( South Africa ). Southern Company ( US ) , RWE ( Germany ) etc. Price Waterhouse Cooper's Movers and shapers Survey 2002 while examining the results of top 50 electricity utilities concluded that during times of turbulence, vertically integrated utilities performed better to meet the needs of their customers and reported better financial results. 2. The bitter truth is that there are not many resourceful organisations in the private sector in India which can take over and mange electricity distribution efficiently ... Not many foreign companies are expected to jump at the opportunities in the power distribution sector in India due to the requirement of huge investment and volatilities in policies ( huge investment was given as the reason for inviting foreign investment !! ) 3. 1,00,000 MW of power is required till 2012 for which Rs 9,00,000 crores is needed . IPPs for 68,000 MW was signed but not even 10% has materialised. 4. World per capita consumption of power is 2,211 kWh while in India the corresponding figure is 473kWh. A State like kerala which was declared fully electrified has per capita consumption of below 300kWh due to poor industrialisation . 87 % of electricity consumption is concentrated in 83 urban centres. Is it not easy to guess who has benefited directly or indirectly from ' cheap electricity at State expense ' . The paper also goes on to say that very little of India's agricultural production comes from electricity and that large farmers in Gujarat have earned a packet from sale of water from tube wells run on subsidised electricity to poor farmers. So the solution for the electricity sector is higher prices as electricity anyway does not benefit the poor . It is anybody's guess what will then happen to the production of more electricity ( not surprising that progress has been slow ) . In the meantime , in the name of making the electricity sector more efficient the masses will be burdened with spiraling prices . Viren |
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December28, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Deaths by Water - and Environmental Degradation >> |
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