Power to the market: Public listing may push state utilities to reform

In terms of valuation, however, the sector as a whole remains vulnerable to the political exigencies of the state-owned discoms

In theory, the plan to list state-owned power utilities — generation, transmission, and distribution — is a good idea. Market listing will enforce transparency and financial discipline on a sector that has been opaque in its functioning and prey to political rather than commercial considerations for decades. It is encouraging that state-owned power utilities have evinced an interest in raising funds through this route, where the requirements of quarterly financial reporting will enforce a level of disclosure that would certainly be novel to these enterprises. Linked to this exercise is the real challenge for state-owned power companies: To subject themselves