CII in association with its Knowledge Partner, PwC India released
a report on ‘Changing
rules of Indian power sector: Empowering the economy’ against the backdrop of the
Sixth Edition of ‘Energy Conclave 2015: Transforming
the Energy Sector through Policy, Regulation and Technology’ organized by
CII on 12 August, 2015 in Kolkata.
Power is
one of the most critical components of infrastructure, affecting economic growth
and the wellbeing of nations. The existence and development of an adequate
power infrastructure is essential for the sustained growth of the Indian
economy.
The Indian
power system is the fifth largest in the world and among the most complex. With
an annual electricity production of 1,031 billion units (BU), it is among the
top five power consumers across the globe, and the demand is expected to touch
1,900 BU by 2020. Growth in industrial activities, population, economy,
prosperity and urbanisation, along with rising per-capita energy consumption,
has widened the gap of energy access in the country.
While almost 61% of the power generated is from coal,
India is looking to alter the generation mix in the years to come, focusing on
a low-carbon growth strategy, although coal production continues to be on the
agenda of policymakers.
India is dependent to a great extent on imports. Leveraging
its huge and abundant renewable resources in the years to come can help India
cut down its requirement of expensive imported fossil fuels. There has been a huge
focus on increasing the share of renewable sources-based power generation in
the last few years, with the government setting aggressive and ambitious
targets. One among the key amendments to the Electricity Act of 2003 is the
introduction of renewable energy generation obligation and removal of
cross-subsidy for power procured from renewable sources, which will provide a
huge fillip to the Indian renewable energy space.
While the country continues to grapple with power
shortages, three states in the eastern region—West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh—feature
among those with surplus power. These states could provide the answer to the
ones that are reeling under power shortages, if they are provided the necessary
transmission infrastructure and corridor.
This CII-PwC report seeks to provide an overview of the regulatory
reforms in the Indian power sector and outlines some of the key issues that needs to be addressed.
Key Content:
The India
power sector: 0verview; The Electricity Act amendment and Coal sector
developments.