NEW DELHI, 22 March 2007 — India’s prime minister vowed yesterday to tackle electricity theft on a “war footing” as the country battles a chronic power shortage, which he said threatens economic development.
The warning came just weeks before most of the country is set to be hit by searing summer temperatures and regular power cuts as people switch on air conditioners and fans, straining the national grid.
“High transmission and distribution losses and theft of electricity are unacceptable. These need to be tackled on a war footing,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in the national capital.
Manmohan said the demand for power had outstripped supply, and that shortages were a constraint on India’s economic development and people’s livelihoods.
He called for the creation of a “broad national consensus” on reforms in the distribution sector that he said were vital for commercial viability and sustainability of the power sector.
“It is indeed regrettable that across the country, power shortage in varying degrees still remains a constraint on development and livelihoods,” he said after handing out awards to power utilities.
Even in wealthy states like Maharashtra, children were unable to study during examination times because of power outages, he said.
“That’s the measure of our gap. We must introspect, what is it that has gone wrong,” Manmohan said.
There are no definite estimates, but energy experts reckon that between one third and one half of India’s electricity supply is stolen, leaving the country chronically short of power.
