Governance and Development in India by Seyed Hossein Zarhani

Author:Seyed Hossein Zarhani [Zarhani, Seyed Hossein]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367586768
Google: i0aTzQEACAAJ
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Goodreads: 39218936
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

As Kirk (2011) elaborates, Naidu was influenced by the World Bank policy recommendations. Therefore, he pursued power sector reforms and proposed The AP Electricity Reform bill in 1998. The bill proposed to divide the State electricity board into two distinct corporations: first for generation and second for transmission. Moreover, the bill proposed to establish an independent regulatory authority. The Congress and the Left parties opposed the bill; nevertheless, the TDP with two-third majority in the Legislative Assembly passed the AP Electricity Reform Act in 1998. According to the Act, the AP State Electricity Board was divided into Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) and Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (APTRANSCO) in 1999 (Mukherji 2014, 155). In June 1998, the World Bank expressed its support to the reforms and pledged US$543 million to the Andhra Pradesh Economic Restructuring Project, followed by another US$210 million for the Andhra Pradesh Power Sector Restructuring Project in February 1999. The World Bank’s aids and loans not only had continued during the TDP government but also sustained during the Congress government despite all YSR’s rhetoric against the loans in the 2004 assembly election (Kirk 2011, 63).

Although Naidu implemented several policy reforms in the State based on the World Bank recommendations, he also introduced some targeted populist measures pragmatically to attract specific groups of voters in the 1999 election. As Mukherji (2014, 155) maintains, the World Bank was patient about Naidu’s populist initiatives in 1999 on the eve of his election campaign. The political support of the World Bank and its tolerance toward the Naidu’s targeted populism is rooted in the pragmatist approach of the World Bank.

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