Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses?
As a part of the ongoing power sectors reforms in India, the state of West Bengal is in the process of metering agricultural electricity supply. Based on primary data, this paper presents a first cut assessment of this initiative. Results suggest that the majority of the pump owners benefit from the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Conference Paper |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38584 |
| _version_ | 1855527345372266496 |
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| author | Mukherji, Aditi Das, B. Majumdar, N. Nayak, N.C. Sethi, R.R. Sharma, Bharat R. Banerjee, Partha Sarathi |
| author_browse | Banerjee, Partha Sarathi Das, B. Majumdar, N. Mukherji, Aditi Nayak, N.C. Sethi, R.R. Sharma, Bharat R. |
| author_facet | Mukherji, Aditi Das, B. Majumdar, N. Nayak, N.C. Sethi, R.R. Sharma, Bharat R. Banerjee, Partha Sarathi |
| author_sort | Mukherji, Aditi |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | As a part of the ongoing power sectors reforms in India, the state of West Bengal is in the process of metering agricultural electricity supply. Based on primary data, this paper presents a first cut assessment of this initiative. Results suggest that the majority of the pump owners benefit from the reforms in two ways: first by having to pay a lower electricity bill for same usage and second through increased profit margins by selling water. This is because in response to changed incentive structure for water selling, water prices rose sharply by 30-50% immediately after metering. In contrast, water buyers have lost out by having to pay higher water charges and face adverse terms of contract. Impact of metering on operation of groundwater markets is less clear; they may expand, contract or remain unchanged. Same holds true for the volume of groundwater extracted, though water use efficiency may go up. At current tariff rates, the electricity utilities are likely to earn less revenue than before. There is also no evidence that quality of electricity supply has improved following metering. These findings are context specific and holds good for West Bengal where high flat tariff had fostered competitive groundwater markets and hence can not be generalised for other Indian states. |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | CGSpace38584 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publishDateRange | 2008 |
| publishDateSort | 2008 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace385842023-09-23T17:44:55Z Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? Mukherji, Aditi Das, B. Majumdar, N. Nayak, N.C. Sethi, R.R. Sharma, Bharat R. Banerjee, Partha Sarathi groundwater irrigation tube wells pumping electricity supplies cost recovery water market water rates As a part of the ongoing power sectors reforms in India, the state of West Bengal is in the process of metering agricultural electricity supply. Based on primary data, this paper presents a first cut assessment of this initiative. Results suggest that the majority of the pump owners benefit from the reforms in two ways: first by having to pay a lower electricity bill for same usage and second through increased profit margins by selling water. This is because in response to changed incentive structure for water selling, water prices rose sharply by 30-50% immediately after metering. In contrast, water buyers have lost out by having to pay higher water charges and face adverse terms of contract. Impact of metering on operation of groundwater markets is less clear; they may expand, contract or remain unchanged. Same holds true for the volume of groundwater extracted, though water use efficiency may go up. At current tariff rates, the electricity utilities are likely to earn less revenue than before. There is also no evidence that quality of electricity supply has improved following metering. These findings are context specific and holds good for West Bengal where high flat tariff had fostered competitive groundwater markets and hence can not be generalised for other Indian states. 2008 2014-06-13T11:42:28Z 2014-06-13T11:42:28Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38584 en Limited Access Mukherji, Aditi; Das, B.; Majumdar, N.; Nayak, N. C.; Sethi, R. R.; Sharma, Bharat R.; Banerjee, P. S. 2008. Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? Paper presented at the International Conference on Water Resources Policy in South Asia, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 17- 20 December 2008. 20p. |
| spellingShingle | groundwater irrigation tube wells pumping electricity supplies cost recovery water market water rates Mukherji, Aditi Das, B. Majumdar, N. Nayak, N.C. Sethi, R.R. Sharma, Bharat R. Banerjee, Partha Sarathi Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title | Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title_full | Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title_fullStr | Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title_short | Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: who gains and who loses? |
| title_sort | metering of agricultural power supply in west bengal india who gains and who loses |
| topic | groundwater irrigation tube wells pumping electricity supplies cost recovery water market water rates |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38584 |
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