There are also the vested interests of powerful stakeholders at work. They would not welcome a reduction in their own relative size and strength in the field, and would, therefore, act as barriers to change. For instance, there is a large lobby of beneficiaries who would prefer to see electricity continue to be subsidised for their own benefit even if this totally erodes the power of the SEBs to function as financially strong and dynamic organisations. A greater role for the private sector is necessary for adequate flows of finance and technology into the energy sector. Before one looks at the current situation and the outlook for the medium term, it is important to understand that energy policy cannot remain confined only to the energy supply industry.
Energy policy is a function of what happens in every sector of the economy.
Hence, if a consistent energy vision is to drive decisions related to supply of energy, then every sector of the economy needs to be part of that vision. Two examples would help to explain this reality. If we look at the transport sector, over the last 50 years there has been a continuous shift in the share of road against rail transport, with the latter losing its share to road transport during this period. This has major implications for energy consumption, because road transport is several times more intensive in energy use than efficient rail transport. This is not to say that the Indian Railways use energy as efficiently as those of modern rail transport systems in other countries.