Power populism

States should resist the temptation to hand out free electricity

In India, the ultimate accolade for any policy is to be seen as being instrumental to an electoral success. The re-election of Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party would have highlighted to politicians around the country, particularly at the state level, the usefulness of the party’s signature policy of subsidised power. In Delhi, power up to 200 units every month is free for households and up to 400 units is subsidised by 50 per cent. Already some other states have jumped on to the power subsidy bandwagon. After taking control of the Maharashtra power ministry in December, state Energy Minister Nitin Raut