INDIA’S BLACKOUTS

HUGE BLACKOUT FUELS DOUBTS ABOUT INDIA’S ECONOMIC AMBITIONS

Simon Denyer and Rama Lakshmi

The Washington Post, August 1, 2012

NEW DELHI — Power was restored in India on Wednesday after two days of blackouts that had cast a huge shadow over the nation’s economic ambitions.

On Tuesday, the overburdened electrical grid had collapsed across the whole of northern and eastern India, depriving more than half the country, or around 600 million people, of power. It was the largest blackout in global history in terms of the number of people affected — about 10 percent of the world population.

“Superpower India, RIP,” said the banner headline in The Economic Times newspaper.

The crisis had reinforced concerns that industry leaders had been raising for years — that the nation’s horribly inefficient power sector could undermine its long-term economic ambitions.

More generally, it sharpened fears about India’s failure to invest in the infrastructure needed to support its rapidly growing economy, in sharp contrast to neighboring China. It also destroyed any lingering hope that the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit and vibrant private sector could somehow deliver a significantly brighter future without a dramatic improvement in the way the country is governed.

“As one of the emerging economies of the world, which is home to almost a sixth of the world population, it is imperative that our basic infrastructure requirements are in keeping with India’s aspirations,” Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said in a statement Tuesday. “The developments of yesterday and today have created a huge dent in the country’s reputation that is most unfortunate.”

Tuesday’s blackout, which hit the northern and eastern parts of the country, brought more than 500 trains screeching to a halt, left thousands of passengers stuck for nearly an hour inside the capital’s Metro line and trapped more than 200 miners underground.

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