A government bailout in 2001 was the size of Nepal’s GDP. The money it cost the exchequer to write off power sector losses in 2011 would have paid for 15,000 hospitals and 123,000 schools. India’s per capita power consumption is among the lowest in the world and the country needs sweeping reforms if it wants to provide electricity to all by 2019, says the World Bank. Currently, a quarter of the population, some 300 million people, live without access to electricity. A new World Bank report, conducted at the request of the Government of India, has identified electricity distribution to the end consumer as the sector’s debilitating point. According to the Bank, some of the reforms that can fix India’s power mess are: freeing utilities and regulators from government interference, increasing accountability and enhancing competition in the sector. India ranks poorly on the ease of getting a power connection. For a typical commercial establishment to get a power connection, it requires seven different procedures and 67 days in India. In comparison, this takes 28 days in China, 35 in Thailand, 36 in Singapore, and 41 in Hong Kong. India ranks 99th in the world on this scale. More than 28 million Indians have annually gained access to electricity in the first decade of this century. Annual per capita power sector consumption is around 800 kWh.

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