Articles by admin

Suresh Prabhu was at the forefront of policy decisions on the energy sector. In this 2002 interview, the then power minister struck a positive note with the MoP’s “blueprint” for action. Revisit Prabhu’s interview, peppered with his characteristic repartee and one-liners. […]

Suresh Prabhu took over as power minister at the turn of the millennium and set out clear goals for reforms. One of his major achievements was introducing the Electricity Bill, 2001 in Parliament. In this lively interview, he gave his rather interesting perspective on various issues impacting the sector at the time […]

Once extolled as a shining example of sector reforms, Odisha’s experiment with privatisation ran aground, with dues mounting, US power utility AES threatening to pull out and talk brewing of a rollback of reforms. What went wrong? This story analysed the reasons why Odisha – the first state to attempt reforms – failed to find success at the time. […]

Tata Electric Companies’ strategic decision to venture into the retail arena unleashed a bitter battle with its rivals for Mumbai’s high consumption customers. It threatened to upset the decades-old power equilibrium in the state and unseat the incumbents, BSES and BEST. This story talked about the power play between the rivals as they slugged it out for a greater share of electricity supply in Mumbai. […]

P.R. Kumaramangalam represented the young, articulate, reformist face of Indian politics. As power minister, he worked tirelessly to implement reforms, push legislation and get private projects off the ground. His untimely death at 48 was indeed a great loss. An interview with Kumaramangalam from our archives […]

Undaunted by Kashmir’s civil war, armed sieges and curfews, a group of Swedish and Indian engineers built the Uri hydropower plant in record time. A glimpse of how the Uri project team worked assiduously amidst adverse circumstances – terrorist threats, harsh weather and a tough terrain – to finish NHPC’s remarkable 480 MW project on the river Jhelum. […]

This article highlighted the fact that the SEBs stood to lose their “best-paying” industrial consumers by incessantly raising industrial tariffs while leaving the agriculture sector untouched. The tariff hikes, often in double digits, would likely push industry towards the captive option. […]

Back in 1998, when participation by IPPs in power generation was still at a nascent stage in India, the discovery of ultra-low tariffs for a project in neighbouring Bangladesh made headlines. Opponents of private power questioned why foreign IPPs were “overstating” their tariffs in India, without factoring in the higher import duties, fuel costs and taxes in the country. This article analyses the tariffs quoted by IPPs in India and elsewhere in the world […]

In a major volte face, the power ministry at the time considered reverting to the MoU route, sparking concern, anger and frustration amongst IPPs. This 1997 story cautioned the government about the perils of such “flirtations” and policy swings, and urged it to not move away from competitive bidding to negotiated bidding. […]