Program for Electricity Distribution Sector Reforms in India (WB-P177844)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • India
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 30, 2022
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
REC Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 500.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 500.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1,210.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Aug 4, 2022

Disclosed by Bank Jan 21, 2022


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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to World Bank documents, the objective of the project is to improve the financial health and operational efficiency of select electricity distribution companies in India.

The proposed Program intends to support the operational and financial performance of Discoms in the country and the Bank supports the program in selected (three to four) states through REC Ltd (a financial intermediary) for institutional and capacity building reforms. The operation will be financed through a hybrid of Program for Results (PforR) and Investment Project Financing (IPF) financial modalities. The PforR while the primary instrument for support of the program through funding US$ 490 million, the IPF is proposed to finance Technical Assistance of about US$ 10 million for specific activities related to project management, training, and capacity building by REC. The proposed IPF component will only involve TA to build the capacity of the implementing agency and Distribution Companies (Discoms).

The proposed Program builds upon the World Bank’s support over the last 7-8 years to reforms in electricity distribution through state level engagements under India’s 24x7 Power for All Program. Through this Project, the World Bank is building upon a long engagement with the Ministry of Power (MoP) which includes several financing operations in electricity distribution, transmission and generation, including in the renewable energy value-chain. The learnings from these engagements have helped the World Bank develop a wide-ranging platform of solutions, which will inform the proposed operation. This project will form part of a programmatic approach to improve the commercial performance of the electricity distribution sector across India.The Program-for-Results (PforR) instrument was determined to be best suited for the World Bank’s support to GoI’s large and transformative program. GoI’s FRBM relaxation and RDSS program are results-linked schemes that will provide financial assistance to Discoms based on meeting a pre-qualifying criterion and achieving basic minimum benchmarks in reforms. This structure of the GoI program lends itself directly to the structure of the PforR instrument. A PforR operation will (a) provide stronger focus on the implementation of critical reforms and initiatives in electricity distribution in alignment with GoI’s FRBM relaxation and RDSS scheme, (b) improve the capacity of government agencies to deliver the program through their own systems and procedures, and (c) provide flexibility and efficiency in supporting an ambitious government program.

The environmental and social risk management policies related to both P4R Program and IPF will be applied for this project. An Environmental and Social System Assessment (ESSA) of REC Ltd will be conducted, consulted, and disclosed by the Bank to evaluate REC Ltd.’s capacity to manage the risk related to Environmental and Social aspects under the project program. The ESF applies only to the TA component which is financed through IPF. The proposed activities under both the P4R and IPF have no physical environmental and social footprints.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

1.Amol Gupta,

Senior Energy Specialist/ Team Leader (ADM Responsible)

Telephone:5220+47791

Email Id:amolgupta@worldbank.org

2.Rohit Mittal,

Senior Energy Specialist/ Team Leader

Telephone No: 5785+47754

Email Id: rmittal@worldbank.org

BORROWER AND IMPLEMENTING AGENCY:

REC Limited

SKG Rahate, Chairman and Managing Director

Telephone No: 91-11-43091500

Email Id: cmd@recl.in

 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works