Interesting article ,though might require a Pro subscription from Moneycontrol to access.
The gist of the article :
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India established a national electricity grid more than a decade back by integrating five regional grids in phases.It may appear that a uniform power tariff should be a logical culmination
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MBED was the outcome of the deliberation between stakeholders to explore the feasibility and the implementation of a uniform tariff across the country.
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Unfortunately, MBED hasn’t made much headway so far. One key reason is that it is primarily meant for electricity buy-sale through power exchanges. At present, power exchanges account only for about 7 percent of India’s total electricity generation, while close to 90 percent of power is contracted through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
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Electricity, being on the Concurrent list, is caught between cross currents. As both the Centre and the states have jurisdiction over the power sector, New Delhi cannot make tariffs uniform or even change them unilaterally. Significant amendments will have to be made to the Centre and state laws to take it forward.
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States with lower power generation costs may resist Kumar’s demand for “one nation, one power tariff” as an average uniform levy may translate into higher prices for their consumers.
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