Restructuring the Indian power sector with energy conservation as the motive for economic and environmental benefits

India's strong economic performance of recent years requires continuing effort from the newly formed Government to widen the ambit of economic reform. Though the Government has given higher priority for the power development projects, the Indian power sector is struggling with formidable difficulties of meeting the heavy demands of electricity due to higher amount of power losses and energy thefts. To give a supporting hand to the Government, this paper suggests the restructuring of the power sector with energy conservation as the main motive to achieve economical and environmental benefits. The capabilities of the energy conservation policies developed are illustrated via tests by three distinct ways on a state grid-like test system and the test results confirm the suitability of the proposed policies for real-time implementation in the Indian power sector.