Regulation in practice: impact of tariff orders on the Indian electricity sector

Abstract

Independent regulation of the power sector in India started in 1995 in Orissa. Since then, the scope of independent regulation has expanded, and now it covers the entire country. In 1998, a central legislation – the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act – provided the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission the power to deal with the inter-state generation and transmission issues. The same law had enabling provisions for the SERCs (state electricity regulatory commissions), but there was no compulsion for every state to have a regulator. In 2003, the EA 03 (Electricity Act 2003) came into being, which made having independent regulator mandatory for all states. A large number of orders have since been issued by the regulators, both at the centre and in the states. The interesting question is to what extent have the regulators been able to reform the sector and perform the role that was expected from them. This broad question has many components and for convenience sake, they are divided into two – the procedures/processes followed by the regulator and the substantive content/impact of the orders. The book Regulation in practice: impact of tar iff orders on the Indian electr icity sector by A Garg, V Gaba, and J L Bajaj addresses precisely these issues. The analysis in the book is based on the study in nine states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal) and covers the orders issued during 2003/04, 2004/05, and 2005/06. Book review