Does solar get a chance against India electricity policy?

Apart from the problems of technology, India also suffers from the incurable disease of Bureaucratitis. Distribution of electricity is controlled by state electricity boards. These boards control most of the electricity production, distribution and collection of revenues from the activity. This is a high revenue generating activity so even the politicians also get into the act of defining the policies of state Electricity boards. With all this power, revenue and capital investment in the hands of politicians, one cannot expect the result to be good for the people.

Off grid, independent generation of electricity with solar panels may sound like a good idea but it goes against the interests of thousands of technical and bureaucratic personnel working for those electricity boards, The capital invested in power houses and the distribution infrastructure existing in the states as well as the billing and collection bureaucracy will be set against any such move. Only win-win scenario is to demonstrate a scheme that adds to the revenue generated for the central electricity authority at the same time the policy should provide incentives to the home owner to generate his own electricity. The board should consider any additional electricity generated by the private owner as additional revenue stream for the board and the private owner.

For such policy structure and incentives for all parties Indian politicians should study the policies followed in the western countries. Although India has all the brain power required for setting up such a policy structure, it may not be too difficult to learn from experience of other countries. We need not follow all that they may have done but looking at their experience gives India some advantage.