India's Power Sector
From Power Plant to Plug
The three parts of India's electricity system - generation, transmission and distribution - and who owns and regulates each part.
When you switch on a fan, electricity has travelled through three stages.
1. Generation
Power plants produce electricity from coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, solar and wind. Owners include central companies like NTPC, state companies and private firms like Tata Power, Adani Power and JSW.
2. Transmission
High-voltage lines carry power over long distances. Power Grid Corporation runs much of the inter-state network, and India has a single national grid since 2013.
3. Distribution
Distribution companies (discoms) bring power to homes and businesses, bill customers and collect money. Most are state-owned, though some cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have private distributors.
Who regulates
- Electricity is a concurrent subject: both the Centre and states make rules.
- The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and state commissions set tariffs and rules.
The money chain
Customers pay discoms, discoms pay generators and transmission companies. If discoms don’t collect enough, the whole chain suffers.
Coal burnt at a plant in Chhattisgarh produces electricity that travels on national grid lines to Maharashtra, where a state discom delivers it to a home in Pune and sends a monthly bill.
Generation, transmission and distribution are usually done by different companies.
- The power system has generation, transmission and distribution.
- India has a single national grid since 2013.
- Most discoms are state-owned.
- Regulators set tariffs; discoms' finances affect the whole chain.
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