Independent Energy Regulation in a Developing Economy (eBook)

This book is an introduction to the challenges of independent regulation, a new governance institution introduced in developing economies in the wake of liberalization, to perform the role of a surrogate for competitive markets.  It examines, in the Indian context, regulatory interpretation of key provisions of energy laws and regulatory statutes, as manifest in the adjudicatory orders of India's petroleum and electricity regulators. The objective is to assess regulatory interpretations for consistency with the stated objectives of independent regulation. Comparing regulatory interpretation of energy laws with those of the higher judiciary, this study highlights the divergent perspectives of regulators and the higher judiciary on the role of independent regulation in a liberalized economy. In the process, this research attempts to gauge, not only the extent of regulatory expertise and independence in India's energy space, but crucially, the Indian government's commitment to independence of regulators. The book also offers a glimpse of the operation of checks and balances in a relatively new institution situated outside the scope of the conventional Madisonian framework.  Framed against the backdrop of extant regulatory theories, this book is of interest to regulators, policy makers, utility executives, students of law, economics and regulatory studies as well as lawyers interpreting regulators' remit and role in a liberalized economy.

Sudha Mahalingam's association with energy sector goes back three decades and straddles the entire spectrum of professional engagements - as regulator, academic, advisor, consultant, trainer of regulators and business journalist reporting on India's rapidly transforming energy sector in the first decade of economic liberalization.  In 2022, she completed her three-year tenure as Dr.Raja Ramanna Chair Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore, where she taught regulatory economics to graduate students. She has been full-time member of India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, energy member of India's National Security Advisory Board, Visiting Fellow at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Delft University in The Netherlands and a senior fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. Sudha has published in peer-reviewed and scholarly journals, contributed chapters to books on energy, represented India in international conferences and lectured at prestigious institutions.  Sudha holds a doctorate in regulatory economics from University of Technology, Sydney, an M.Phil in applied economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a Bachelor of Law from Delhi University.

Kapilan Mahalingam is a doctoral student of economics at Penn State University, USA.  He is currently working on Industrial Organization which includes Regulatory Economics and focuses on identifying optimal incentives for renewable energy in India.  He also works on Information Theory and Big Data. His earlier work examined shared incentives for crowdfunding, land acquisition and pollution estimation. Kapilan has a Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics and undergraduate degree in economics from Delhi University.

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This book is an introduction to the challenges of independent regulation, a new governance institution introduced in developing economies in the wake of liberalization, to perform the role of a surrogate for competitive markets.  It examines, in the Indian context, regulatory interpretation of key provisions of energy laws and regulatory statutes, as manifest in the adjudicatory orders of India's petroleum and electricity regulators. The objective is to assess regulatory interpretations for consistency with the stated objectives of independent regulation. Comparing regulatory interpretation of energy laws with those of the higher judiciary, this study highlights the divergent perspectives of regulators and the higher judiciary on the role of independent regulation in a liberalized economy. In the process, this research attempts to gauge, not only the extent of regulatory expertise and independence in India's energy space, but crucially, the Indian government's commitment to independence of regulators. The book also offers a glimpse of the operation of checks and balances in a relatively new institution situated outside the scope of the conventional Madisonian framework.  Framed against the backdrop of extant regulatory theories, this book is of interest to regulators, policy makers, utility executives, students of law, economics and regulatory studies as well as lawyers interpreting regulators' remit and role in a liberalized economy.