A Conceptual Lens for Introducing Retail Competition in Indian Power Sector

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Agrawal, Atul^{a; *} | Kothari, D P^b

Affiliations: [a] Research Officer, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Ministry of Power, New Delhi, India | [b] Professor and Ex-Vice Chancellor, VIT, Vellore and Ex-Director, IIT Delhi, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract: The power sector reforms in India have received major thrust in the reform agenda of the state budgets. Owing to the lack of competition and existence of major challenges, the Government of India made significant institutional and legal changes and the most important legislation in this direction was the Electricity Act 2003. The act aimed to bring a paradigm shift in the sector by encouraging competition. Though the act enforced the shift of the Indian power sector from vertically integrated monopoly to wholesale competition model, inefficiencies and losses still plague the sector. It is expected that introduction of globally practiced retail competition may address the existing challenges. Literature review suggests that formulation of a conceptual lens is necessary in order to provide comprehensive understanding of retail introduction in the Indian scenario. Therefore, we have developed a conceptual lens by using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of conceptualization. The formulated conceptual lens suggests a road map that may be referred to by policymakers for introducing retail competition in the Indian power sector.

Keywords: Indian power sector, Electricity Act 2003, Retail competition, Conceptual lens

DOI: 10.3233/RED-160203

Journal: Journal of Resources, Energy and Development, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 67-74, 2019