R K Singh: The man who ordered Advani's arrest gets power

Raj Kumar Singh becomes the minister of state for power and new & renewable energy at a time when the sectors are facing several crises. In three years, the sector has shifted from supply deficit to demand deficit. Singh has a dual task: To meet the high expectations the outgoing minister has left with and to take the states along for the steady growth of the power sector.

Former home secretary and Lok Sabha MP from Ara, Singh is not new to dabbling with tough tasks. In his illustrious IAS career spanning four decades, Singh has taken on ministers, Hindu extremists and terrorists. He came to the limelight for ordering the arrest of veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani in 1990 in Samastipur during the latter’s Rath Yatra. It was under Singh’s tenure as home secretary that 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru were hanged to death. 

Singh joined the BJP after retiring in 2013 from his cadre state, Bihar. While in the party ranks, he criticised the procedure to distribute tickets during the elections in Bihar in 2015. The BJP lost the polls.

The power sector, especially clean energy under previous minister Piyush Goyal, grabbed headlines which also spurred its slow growth. But key challenges still remain. Power demand growth is stagnant, owing mostly to financially sick status of state-owned power distribution companies (discoms). This has had a domino effect over the supply chain, with power plants running at half capacity, muted coal supply and industrial growth. 

At the same time, the uproar over clean energy has settled now, with the sector facing harsh truths. States are either reneging old contracts or not signing new ones, as tariffs in solar and wind sectors witness a free fall. 

For Singh, whose first posting was in the state electricity board of Bihar, this could be life coming a full circle. Some of the flagship schemes dear to PM Narendra Modi, such as rural electrification and 175 Gw of clean energy by 2022, depend on states improving their finances and operations. What is to be seen is how Singh manages multiple stakeholders and yet fulfils the goal of power for all, by 2019.