Events

Book Launch: ‘Mapping Power: The Political Economy of Electricity in India’s States’

Date and Time

September 17, 2018

11:00 am to 1:30 pm

Location

Lecture Room II, Annexe, India International Centre

Watch the full video of Book Launch and Discussion

Watch the Panel Discussion

Mapping Power is edited by Navroz K Dubash, Sunila S Kale, and Ranjit Bharvirkar, and will be published by Oxford University Press. The full launch event will be streamed through Facebook live on CPR’s Facebook page.

Tea and coffee will be served at 10:30 AM, and the event will be followed by lunch. Please RSVP for the event here

Agenda
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM – Registration and Tea/Coffee
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM – Book Launch and Discussion

Shri Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation and former Minister of Power (by video)
Shri Jairam RameshMember of Parliament and former Union Minister
Shri Narendra TanejaNational Spokesperson, BJP 
Dr Pramod Deoformer Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM – Panel Discussion

Prof D V RamanaDirector, Institute of Management Technology – Hyderabad
Mr Shantanu DixitGroup Coordinator, Prayas (Energy Group)
Ms Aditi PhadnisPolitical Editor, Business Standard

1:30 PM – Lunch

A brief description of the book can be accessed here.

About the Book

Electricity is critical to enabling India’s economic growth and providing a better future for its citizens. In spite of several decades of reform, the Indian electricity sector is unable to provide high-quality and affordable electricity for all, and grapples with the challenge of poor financial and operational performance. To understand why, Mapping Power provides the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of electricity in India’s states. With chapters on fifteen states by scholars of state politics and electricity, this volume maps the political and economic forces that constrain and shape decisions in electricity distribution. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it concludes that attempts to depoliticise the sector are misplaced and could worsen outcomes. Instead, it suggests that a historically grounded political economy analysis helps understand the past and devise reforms to simultaneously improve sectoral outcomes and generate political rewards. These arguments have implications for the challenges facing India’s electricity future, including providing electricity to all, implementing government reform schemes, and successfully managing the rise of renewable energy.