Evolution of regional power pools in India-current status and trends

The Indian power sector has developed over a period of time from a number of scattered utilities serving primarily the urban areas, into a well integrated power system operating as five major interconnections one for each of the five regions of the country. The process of integration has taken place quite rapidly after the country gained independence in 1947, whereafter the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 was enacted to provide for establishment of State Electricity Boards with full responsibility for electricity generation, transmission and distribution within each state. Since October, 1991 the electricity generation has been thrown open to the private sector and under the new policy of the Govt. Of India any Company may include in its objects the generation and transmission of power. The need for augmenting transmission capability to match the growing generating capacity and facilitate economic operation of the regional grids led to the formation of Powergrid Corporation of India and transfer of all centrally owned transmission systems to this agency with a view to ensuring an integrated approach to power system development. The Indian power sector is now poised for the rapid growth of installed capacity through establishment of a large number of generating stations including those of independent power producers. The paper traces the developments leading to the present power scenario in India, outlines some of the current issues concerning the country´s power sector and indicates the likely developments in terms of integration of the power systems and evolution of regional power pooling arrangements