Power Sector: Rise, Fall and Reform

From being the only state electricity board in the country in the eighties to steadily maintain a profitable profile over a period of a decade, the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB) had by 2000 slid to the last position among SEBs in financial management. It has recorded the highest losses among all SEBs in the last three years. This paper attempts to examine how this horrendous deterioration happened and what factors contributed to it. To study this the history of the electricity sector in the state has been periodised into three periods: Rise (1970-90), Fall (1990-96) and Reform (1996-2000).