The IPPAI Regulatory and Policy Research Institute has been established to share knowledge andexperience about the workings of the Indian energy and infrastructure sector among policymakers,regulators, and other stakeholders in the power sector as it undergoes constant evolution.

The Indian Power Sector is critical for the economic growth, self-reliance, sustainability and security ofthe country. Post the reforms ushered through the Electricity Act, 2003, the sector has been rapidlyevolving and this has accelerated the development of a plethora of regulations and policy directives inorder to give a direction to this complex sector, especially with regard to capacity addition acrossGeneration, Transmission and Distribution, promotion of Renewable Energy and the development of aPower Market.

In this regard, the concepts of Regulation and Trading of Power in the Indian Power Sector are quiteunique and thus require a more detailed and in depth analysis, along with a dedicated effort totrain/skill the present stakeholders and future leaders, for the benefit of the sector and the country as awhole.

In the case of Regulation, some of the key goals of the regulatory process in India include directingsector players to achieve a mandated level of performance on various parameters such as quality,continuity and reliability of service, or providing a fair deal to consumers and addressing abuse ofmarket forces. This involves a high level of complexity in decision making and IPPAI believes that aspecialized and trained Regulatory Cadre for the Indian Power Sector is the need of the hour in addi-tion to training the existing stakeholders.

In the case of Power Market development and Power Trading in particular, India has been far ahead ofthe rest of the world and has a fully functioning market. However, this market is a unique one, which isbased on a combination of both the principals of a competitive market and a regulated market. There-fore, operating in such a specialized and unique environment requires skilled individuals from both thePublic and Private Sector who are informed on the latest policies, rules, regulations and opportunitiesof the market.

Keeping this in mind, IRPRI has been set up as a separate division within the overall framework of IPPAIbut with a much wider, and far-reaching role to catalyze development of the power markets with afocus on capacity building in regulatory, policy and power trading areas.
This is proposed to be done through knowledge enhancement by collaborating with academicians,industry, experts and economists at the national and international level and through knowledgedissemination to the power and energy sector by managing various training programs, workshops andseminars.

The focus would be on interactive learning using case studies, faculty and participant experiencerather than a purely theoretical approach. We believe that this would help the participants gain wellinformed and practical insights into regulatory, policy and power trading concepts of the power sectorin India.