Research Design Meeting Regulatory Impact Assessment In Indian Electricity Generation Sector

Research Design Meeting

Regulatory Impact Assessment In Indian Electricity Generation Sector

June 27, 2014, New Delhi

CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (CUTS CCIER) in collaboration with ADB, Indian Resident Mission is organising a Research Design Meeting towards project on “Regulatory Impact Assessment in Indian Electricity Generation Sector”.

The accelerated pace of the country’s development is impeded substantially through the regulatory and legislative framework that not only causes delay in the implementation of projects but also adds to the cost of the infrastructure projects, which is the essence of enhancement of urbanisation and development of economy. Power is one of the most significant concerns of the government which has witnessed an increase in participation of the private players in generation, and in future such participation must increase further, if the India wishes to achieve the mission of ‘Electricity for all’.

Certain regulations of central and state governments could retard the process of initiating and operating projects unduly, thereby restricting competition and imposing unprecedented cost onto the project. To curb such practices and lacunae that retard the development of the power sector, it stands imperative to analyse the negative and positive implications of the regulations over the relevant stakeholders. However, it must be ensured that facilitation to private sector private developers results in net benefit to the society at large. Thus, it is pertinent to evaluate the existing policies in light of their positive and negative impacts on all stakeholders, such as the independent power producers, consumers, environment, local residents, et al. To evaluate such impact, regulatory impact assessment is an internationally recognised tool, which is intended to be utilised in the project.

The scope of the project is as follows:

Sector, Regulatory, and Geographic Parameters for RIA Study

Type of Generation Regulatory Issues Case Study
Coal Environmental Clearance Rajasthan
Hydro Land Acquisition Himachal Pradesh
Solar Finance (Investment & Revenue) Gujarat

Having undertaken the literature review and initial legislation research, a Research Design Meeting has been organised to interact with select experts and intellectuals in the areas of energy and regulatory reforms, in order to better understand the legislations and impediments in the power generation sector, discuss the way forward, and address critical challenges in undertaking regulatory impact assessment.

 

Presentations