Privatising power

Recently, The Wall Street Journal noted with appreciation that the one area where Indian reforms were experiencing some success, albeit quietly, was in the area of privatization.

And in Delhi, the government has boldly gone ahead and privatized the Delhi Vidyut Board (Delhi Electricity Board), which supplies power to the capital of India's over 10 million citizens.

Many see it as a test case for the privatization in India, which still has strong lobbies opposed to it, and working hard against it. Alas for those who back privatization, the first few days after the DVB was privatized a few days ago has not been exemplary: blackouts have gone up to 10 hours a day.

So will DVB's privatization - it was sold off to Tata Power and Bombay Suburban Electricity Supply - take off, or will the powerful unions and vested interests sabotage it? More to the point, given the fact that Delhi has some of the highest theft of power, often by the very rich and powerful flaunting their wealth or political connections, will privatization make a difference? Will it ever work?

The person best placed to answer these questions is Ajay Maken, power minister, Delhi government, who was responsible for actually privatizing DVB despite the stiff opposition from various quarters.

He will appear on The Rediff Chat on Wednesday, July 10, at 8 pm IST [10.30 am EDT] to speak on power and privatization.

Power Privatisation in Delhi Not a Failure: Ajay Maken

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