India considering $12 billion plan to bail out state power distributors
India is considering a bailout exceeding 1 trillion rupees ($12 billion) for debt-laden state-run power distribution companies.
To receive the bailout funds, the states will be required to privatise their electric utilities and transfer managerial control or keep control but list them on a stock exchange, according to three government officials and a document outlining the plan prepared by the Indian Ministry of Power.
The plan marks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s toughest reform push yet to overhaul the chronically inefficient state-run electricity distribution companies, seen as the weakest link in India’s energy chain.
