The power sector in India is mainly governed by the Ministry of Power. There are three major pillars of power sector these are Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. As far as generation is concerned it is mainly divided into three sectors these are Central Sector, State Sector, and Private Sector. Central Sector or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), constitute 31.21% (54412.63MW) of total installed capacity i.e, 174361.40 MW (as on 31/03/2011) in India. Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). Besides PSUs, several state-level corporations are there which accounts for about 47.49% of overall generation , such as Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB), Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), in Gujarat (MGVCL, PGVCL, DGVCL, UGVCL four distribution Companies and one controlling body GUVNL, and one generation company GSEC), are also involved in the generation and intra-state distribution of electricity. Other than PSUs and state level corporations, private sector enterprises also play a major role in generation, transmission and distribution, about 21.17%(36761.19MW) of total installed capacity is generated by private sector. The Power Grid Corporation of India is responsible for the inter-state transmission of electricity and the development of national grid. The Ministry of Power is the apex body responsible for the development of electrical energy in India.
This ministry started functioning independently from 2 July 1992; earlier, it was known as the Ministry of Energy. The Union Minister of Power at present is Sushil kumar Shinde of the Congress Party who took charge of the ministry on the 28th of May, 2009.
India is world’s 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption. Due to India’s economic