7. ELECTRICITY

Figure 7.5 Evolution of per capita electricity demand in selected markets, 2007-17

Note: IEA 30 comprises IEA member countries.

Source: IEA (2019a), World Energy Balances, 2019, www.iea.org/statistics/.

With growing electrification of its villages, India’s per capita electricity demand has grown consistently but on average more slowly than that of China and remained below expected growth rates. On a per capita basis, the United States and IEA 30 saw electricity demand flat and shrinking, as illustrated in Figure 7.6.

Figure 7.6 Evolution of per capita electricity demand in India and selected countries, 2008-17

Source: IEA (2019a), World Energy Balances, 2019, www.iea.org/statistics/.

Electricity access

Over two decades India has made significant progress in providing universal electricity access to its population. Its electrification rate has increased very rapidly. After reaching 100% village electrification in 2018, within just a year, in March 2019, the GoI declared it had achieved the full electrification of all households (except those that refused access). The government supports the strengthening of distribution networks and increasing village and household connections by co-funding network upgrades and extensions. It provides grants through the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) scheme in rural areas, the Saubhagya scheme to ensure last-mile connectivity through mini-grid and

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7. ELECTRICITY

stand-alone solar home systems, and the integrated power development scheme (IPDS) (in urban areas), building on the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme. These efforts also supported the modernisation of the grid, including adoption of technology for data collection and monitoring, capacity building and customer care service. Besides providing access, these schemes have reinforced the transmission and distribution grids and driven the reduction in losses.

After implementing the programme for the electrification of villages and households, the GoI is now working to further improve access to clean and secure energy and to ensure full reliable access to electricity (with solar PV or batteries, notably in rural areas) and reach the remaining population. Despite good progress in electrification, there are still around 100 million people without access.1 The rate of national access has grown from 43% in 2000 to more than 95% in 2019.

Figure 7.7 International comparison of populations without energy access, 1985-2018 (million people)

Source: IEA (2018a), World Energy Outlook 2018.

Institutions

Electricity is a concurrent subject matter in the Constitution of India: central and state actors can both legislate on the Indian power sector. In case of duplication, central legislation prevails (Figure 7.8; see also Chapter 2 on general energy policy, Figure 2.11).

The Ministry of Power (MoP) is the highest central governing body and holds responsibility for policy, planning and project development and implementation. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is a technical organisation of the MoP, providing technical support to the MoP and all stakeholders in the power sector to inform the preparation of policies, technical standards and regulations based on monitoring and information dissemination.

Regulation at the central power market level is handled by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) under the mandates of the Electricity Act of 2003.

1 Electrification rate can be measured in different ways. India has dual electrification targets that focus on both electrifying villages (a village is considered electrified if 10% of households and community services have access) and households. IEA methodology, however, focuses on the share of the population with access to electricity in line with the UN SDG tracking framework.

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