Mapping Power: The Political Economy of Electricity in India's States

Despite several decades of reform, India's electricity sector remains marked by the twin problems of financial indebtedness and inability to provide universal, high quality electricity for all. Although political obstacles to reform are frequently invoked in electricity policy debates, Mapping Power provides the first thorough analysis of the political economy of electricity in Indian states. Through narratives of the electricity sectors in fifteen major states, this book argues that a historically-rooted political economy analysis provides the most useful means to understand the past and identify reforms for the future. The book begins with an analytic framework to understand how the political economy of power both shapes and is shaped by a given state's larger political economy. The book concludes with a synthetic account of the political economy of electricity that is animated by insights from the state-level empirical materials. The volume shows that attempts to depoliticize the sector are misplaced. Instead, successful reform efforts should aim at a positive dynamic between electricity reform and electoral success.

Table of Contents:
[.rt error 1] Reforms in Maharashtra Kalpana Dixit 9. Endless Restructuring of the Power Sector in Odisha: A Sisyphean Tale? Mrigakshi Das and Mahaprajna Nayak 10. Protecting Power: The Politics of Partial Reforms in Punjab Ashwini K. Swain 11. Electricity Distribution in Rajasthan: Unbundling theRecurrent Failures of a Politicised Sector Siddharth Sareen 12. Tamil Nadu Power Sector - the Saga of the Subsidy Trap Hema Ramakrishnan 13. Stalled Reform in the Face of Electoral Fears: Uttar Pradesh's Electricity Distribution Sector Jonathan Balls 14. Uttarakhand: The Golden Combination of Cheap Energy and a Large Industrial Base Jonathan Balls 15. Insulated Wires: The Precarious Rise of West Bengal's Power Sector Elizabeth Chatterjee Mapping Power: Comparative Analysis across States Navroz K. Dubash, Ranjit Bharvirkar and Sunila S. Kale Index About the Editors and Contributors.

About the Author :
Ranjit Bharvirkar directs the India program at the Regulatory Assistance Project, a global non-profit focused on energy policy and climate change. He has more than 16 years of experience in electricity policy analysis and technical advice and assistance to state- and national-level policymakers in the U.S. and India. Mr. Bharvirkar recently contributed to India's Renewable Electricity Roadmap Initiative undertaken by the ?Government of India. Mr. Bharvirkar has co-authored several journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, discussion papers, and a book chapter. Navroz K Dubash is a senior fellow at CPR. He works on climate change policy and governance, energy and water policy, and regulation and has published widely in these areas. He has been an author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a member of Government of India committees on climate change, energy and water. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals including Climate Policy, Global Environmental Politics, and Energy Research in Social Science. In 2015 he was conferred the 12th T N Khoshoo Memorial Award in recognition of the impact of his work on Indian climate change policy and the international discourse on global climate governance. Dr. Dubash holds an MA and PhD in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and an AB in public and international affairs from Princeton University. Sunila S. Kale is Associate Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies and Chair of South Asia Studies at the University of Washington. Her teaching and research focus on the politics and political economy of India and South Asia, history and politics of energy and electricity, development studies, and the history and present-day manifestations of capitalism.