V M Dandekar

now of foreign power investors in the scheme of things.
The Enron fiasco has brought out the pitfalls in the current path of power development in the country. It is time that we take quick remedial measures before the power situation gets completely out of hand. The need is for a package of reforms that restore health to the State Electricity Boards and work out means for the least cost expansion of the power sector. India will do V M Dandekar well to learn from the South Korean experience. The South Koreans have expanded the state sector for providing basic infrastructure like power and telecom while looking to the market for other areas. Instead of working out our distinctive path of development appropriate to our stage of development, the government is substituting slogans for policy. Unless this is reversed and hard thinking goes into working out concrete alternatives, the future of the power sector looks bleak.