India Fights to Keep the Lights On

Inspectors from billionaire Anil Ambani ’s electricity provider, BSES Rajdhani Power , entered a village near New Delhi on May 21, hunting for meters that were tampered with to show artificially low power consumption. Residents stoned and beat them with iron rods, a police report shows. Inspectors visiting a nearby village in 2012 were bound and urinated on, say two company officials who asked not to be identified, because the information isn’t public.

The attacks highlight how hard it is for India’s power industry to stem electricity theft, which is contributing to blackouts and costs $17 billion in lost revenue annually, according to calculations by Bloomberg. It’s a big challenge for new Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who has pledged to boost energy output. Billing rates “are too low, and theft is too high. If you look at the power losses, 80 percent is theft,” says Ratul Puri, chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects , a privately held power plant operator.