India - Long-term Energy Issues : Post-2003 Electricity Act, Power Sector Challenges and Options

With the aim of supporting the Government of India and interested states to advance the implementation of the Electricity Act 2003, in 2005-06 the Bank commissioned short case studies, organized workshops to build consensus around promising approaches to improve electricity distribution services in India - June 3, 2005; and heighten awareness of the potential role of retail competition. Given the mixed success of distribution privatization in India and elsewhere, the original concept for distribution reform was modified to include institutional arrangements other than privatization - effective corporatization, market segmentation, public-private partnerships, etc. - as a ways to improve the governance and quality of electricity distribution services.