You have been in India since 1993 and were selected by the Uttar Pradesh government for the Jawaharpur project. How has been your experience in dealing with government agencies in India? Do you see procedural bottlenecks?
Our experience in the early years of development, 1993 to 1996, was positive. But then, with the debacle of Enron-sponsored Dabhol Power Plant, the deep financial non-viability of the state utilities with whom major power projects had had to sign PPAs, and the inability of Coal India Ltd to sign and provide bankable fuel supply agreements, led to the lost decade of wasted effort and investment in the power sector in India.
The reform and restructuring of the power sector, undertaken by the Electricity Act 2003, to a degree, addresses some of the bottlenecks that have hampered power development. The 'open-access' concept and the dedication of coal blocks to major projects, being two of the main initiatives that are addressing the two major bottlenecks of the past. But the effective implementation of these key elements is still governed by the public sector and therefore there is still a large element of inefficiencies, where developers are dependent on government agencies to do the right thing. This does not always necessarily happen. This unfortunately will carry on for some more time, while an entrenched system tries to correct itself.
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