INDO-IEA JOINT CONFERENCE ON COAL
AND ELECTRICITY IN INDIA
A two-day Conference
on "Coal and Electricity in India" will be held on September 22-23,
2003 in New Delhi. Organised by the Ministries of Power and Coal
and the International Energy Agency the conference aims at stimulating
a public discussion on the key issues and challenges facing the
coal and electricity sectors in India. The conference is structured
around five themes – Electricity : coal fired generation in reforming
markets; Coal : the fundamental issues related to the reform of
the industry; Social and regional impacts of reform in coal and
electricity industries; the technology options; and perspectives
from investors, consumers and industry.
A significant portion
of future growth in global coal-fired power generation is expected
to come from India; thus, reform of the coal and power sectors
will be critical to attracting the needed investment and for promoting
economic growth. India's coal and electricity sectors are closely
linked and both are in need of large investments in order to met
the growing demand. The financial arrangements are already in
place. Regulatory restrictions, which were holding back investment,
have been dismantled with Electricity Act 2003 coming into force.
However, the poor financial performance of the State Electricity
Boards (SEBs), which own and operate around 59 per cent of generating
capacity as well as the single state transmission and distribution
systems, has been a key problem.
Since 1991, the Government
has been seeking to attract private investment for power sector
development in an effort to increase supply while keeping public
expenditure under control. Since the mid Nineties, the Government
has sought to introduce private capital into the power distribution
sector and in 1998 it established the legal framework for a new
regulatory system enabling independent tariff-setting with power
to correct longstanding price distortions. More recently the Central
Government has focused on distribution, trying to improve revenue
collection. Despite these efforts, the electricity industry is
facing critical challenges which, if not addressed, can hamper
India's economic growth.
