While each these objectives is laudable, a reality check of the state of affairs does not inspire much hope that this sector holds the potential to unleash growth in the economy.

If it is true that much of the population remains unconnected to the power grid, those who are connected often get interrupted and undependable service, so that even in households, the standby generator is a common sight nowadays.

In this sombre reality, the NEP has appreciably spelt out that consumers, particularly those who are ready to pay a tariff which reflects efficient costs, have the right to get uninterrupted round-the-clock supply of quality power.

It is particularly noteworthy that a reliability index (RI) of supply of power to consumers is to be constructed by distribution licencees and that a roadmap for the declaration of the RI for all cities and towns as also for the rural areas is to be drawn up by the SERCs.

Another area of concern is the distorted tariffs, impounding as they do an unsustainably high cross-subsidy, and which often do not even cover the cost of service provision.

And low tariffs hardly benefit the poor, most of whom lack access to power, particularly in the rural areas.

A World Bank country strategy report released last year states that the power sector's claim on government financial resources is so large that reform of the sector is critical to India's fiscal adjustment and further growth prospects.

"Weak internal management in the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) and poor public governance result in an abnormally high level of theft, leakages and losses that tariffs cannot absorb fully. Technical and commercial losses amount to 40-50 per cent of electricity generated in some Indian States. As governments ultimately become liable for the losses of their utilities, this has exacerbated the fiscal deterioration in many States," says the Report.

The Minister of Power, Mr P. M. Sayeed, told Parliament during the Budget session, citing the annual report of the Plan panel on the working of SEBs, that the commercial losses (without subsidy) of the SEBs escalated from Rs 4,560 crore in 1992-93 to Rs 25,259 crore in 2000-01 and were projected to increase to Rs 33,177 crore in 2001-02.

The irony of the situation is that this refers to the position three years ago, and the period of burgeoning losses coincided with that of power sector reforms.

To help the SEBs, the Union Government is providing funds to the States under the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) for investment in identified distribution areas to cut down technical losses and improve the quality of supply, as also for incentivising through grants, the reduction of cash losses.

Debts of the SEBs due to Central public sector undertakings have been securitised under tripartite pacts.

No doubt, since the APDRP was launched in 2002-03, there has been measurable progress, with 13 States corporatising/unbundling their SEBs, 26 constituting State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, and 18 issuing tariff orders.

As many as 18 States have also reported reduction in transmission and distribution losses, while Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have reported a reduction in cash losses aggregating to Rs 1,911.16 crore. This encouraging trend needs to be followed by other States too.

It is also heartening to note that 100 per cent feeder metering has been achieved in 17 States, while 100 per cent consumer metering has been achieved in four States — Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab.

But there is a long way to go. Meanwhile, political largesse such as free grant of electricity to farmers needs to be avoided as such a facility is largely abused by the rich farmers and vested interests instead of helping the intended beneficiaries.

It is but proper that the thrust of power sector reform is on metering of all consumers, energy audit, improvement of billing and collection efficiency, reduction of technical and commercial losses, reduction and elimination of power theft, constitution and operationalisation of SERC and achievement of commercial viability in.

After several false-starts and hiccups, the Government at long last unveiled the National Electricity Policy a couple of months ago.

Enabling long-term private sector involvement in improving and expanding power supply services, as opposed to the halting policy support of the past, is a welcome feature of the policy.

So too are the steps to improve the SEBs' performance, pending privatisation. Especially important are renewed efforts towards SEB unbundling, including the open access to transmission and distribution networks and enforcing strict payment discipline on the power utilities as also their various clients.

Any apathy or slowdown in the pace of progress in each of the above areas could jeopardise India's efforts to join the developed world league by 2020, leave aside competing with China.

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