US has said its power companies were finding it difficult to fulfil their contracts in India even as New Delhi assured that the recent reforms undertaken on the distribution front will make its power sector more investor-friendly.“What concerns me most is that American power development and distribution companies in a number of States in India continue to face serious problems in having their contracts fulfiled,” US assistant secretary, Department of Energy, Vicky Bailey told a visiting high-level delegation from India, which included Union Power Minister Anant Geethe.“Hopefully, your work on the distribution issue will help address these concerns and make certain that India can be viewed as an attractive investment environment,” he said at Indo-US Energy Dialogue on Electricity Distribution Reform at the US Chamber of Commerce here. Describing power as a ‘critical infrastructure for the growth of the indian economy’, Geethe said the government has now devised a plan which includes incentives and disincentives to reform the distribution sector and attract investment. “However, the financial health of the SEBs in India is a matter of grave concern due to their non-commercial operations,” the Minister said.The core of the problem was the poor state of sub-transmission and distribution system of SEBs, he said. “The gap between the average revenue realisation and average cost of supply is also constantly increasing. Distribution reforms at the state level have, therefore, become absolutely essential,” he added.Stressing the need to integrate reforms to improving the financial viability of the SEBs, Geete said investment in this sector depends on the success of distribution reforms.
