Pest Analysis-Power Sector India

POLITICAL * Government is encouraging private players to produce power and also carry out its transmission and distribution activities. There has been significant Increase in private participation. * Indistinctness involved in complicated tariff rates has been done away with by the government. * Regulatory authorities like Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) & State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) are appointed, to regulate the power industry at centre and state level. * The Indian government has set large scale goals in the 11th plan for power sector due to which the power sector is poised for significant expansion. * Unbundling of the State Electricity Boards into separate Generation, Transmission and Distribution units and privatization of power distribution has been initiated either through the direct privatization or the franchisee route. While there has been a slow and gradual improvement in metering, billing and collection efficiency, the current loss levels still pose a significant challenge for distribution companies.
ECONOMICAL
* In order to provide availability of over 1000 units of per capita electricity by year 2012, it has been estimated that need-based capacity addition of more than 100,000 MW would be required. This has resulted in massive invstment plans being proposed in the sub-sectors of Generation Transmission and Distribution * The Ministry of Power plans to establish an integrated National Power Grid in the country by 2012 with close to 200,000 MW generation capacities and 37,700 MW of inter-regional power transfer capacity. Considering that the current inter-regional power transfer capacity of 20,750 MW, this is indeed an ambitious objective for the country. * For increasing the generation capacity over the next 8-10 years, the corresponding investments in the transmission sector is also expected to expand.

SOCIAL * According to Union Minister of state for Power K C Venugopal,