india electricity, china india relations, china electricity
An employee works on electric pylons at a power station in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi June 8, 2012 (representational image).Reuters file

Chinese national daily, The Global Times, on Tuesday said India could learn from China about delivering electricity to the entire country.

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Chinese investors are closely watching India's efforts to "deliver reliable electricity", Times said adding that India can learn from China by privatising electrification and introducing competition to regulate prices.

The Chinese media quoted a Financial Times article saying people are several months behind in utlities payment in at least four Indian states. It also pointed out that "power remains inadequate or non-existent for 240 million Indian people". 

"It's hard to imagine that a country that makes great achievements in space exploration is unable to solve power shortages due to a lack of power generation and transmission technology. It is likely that the power shortage is a result of India's flawed administrative system," the editorial said. 

In 2011, China increased on-grid electricity prices in some provinces to tackle electricity shortage and later removed government intervention in the matter.

"Introducing more competition into the power sector could ultimately lower electricity prices for Chinese manufacturers," it said. 

"China's pricing reform is bound to be a systematic revamping of the country's electricity sector instead of simply improving the formation mechanism of prices," it said.

It also pointed at India's challenges in the sector like electricity theft. However, the editorial said India can learn from the rival country's experiences "to bring reliable power to all citizens".