The Report discusses the change in the fortunes of Indian Power Distribution, with the sector posting a rare profit. It dissects the drivers behind the operational and financial improvements and mulls over what further reforms are needed. It advocates a bespoke DISCOM-specific approach in the next stage of changes. It then offers privatisation as a solution, offering learnings from past instances. A study of public DISCOMS in 22 major States is presented. It concludes that not only would privatisation improve the overall efficiency of the system, but it can also reduce the gross fiscal deficit of States and help them achieve the 16th Finance Commission target of 3.0%.
