Electricity might get more Expensive
☕ India’s Morning Briefing: Sun, December 21
Hello, and welcome to the brief.
The winter solstice is here, bringing the longest night of the year and, apparently, the longest list of legislative overhauls we’ve seen in a decade. Parliament has packed up, flights are grounded in Delhi fog, and the geopolitical chessboard is on fire. Grab your chai; we have a country to decode.
Welcome to the 187th edition of The India Brief
THE DEEP DIVE
Deep Dive: The End of ‘Free Power’? Deconstructing the Electricity Amendment Bill
For decades, the Indian power sector has operated on a simple, unspoken social contract: charge industries a premium to subsidize farmers and households. It’s a Robin Hood model that has kept votes secure but left distribution companies (Discoms) bleeding cash. Yesterday, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar signaled the end of this era with the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The core philosophy of the new legislation is “cost-reflective tariffs.” In plain English, this means the price on your bill must reflect the actual cost of generating that electricity. No more hiding the true cost in complex cross-subsidies where a factory pays ₹10/unit so a farm can pay ₹0. The government argues this distortion makes Indian manufacturing uncompetitive globally.
To ensure states don’t block these price hikes for political reasons, the Bill empowers regulatory commissions to revise rates suo motu—on their own—if utilities delay filings. This takes the pricing power out of the hands of politicians and hands it to technocrats.
Does this mean the end of subsidies? Not quite. The Minister clarified that states can still provide subsidies to the poor and farmers. However, the mechanism changes. States will likely have to pay Discoms directly from their budget (Direct Benefit Transfer), making the subsidy a visible fiscal cost rather than a hidden tariff adjustment. It forces financial discipline: if a state wants to give free power, it must write a check for it, not pass the bill to the local factory.
The Bill also introduces a radical freedom for large consumers: the ability to exit the local Discom entirely. By reducing the “cross-subsidy surcharge,” big industries can buy cheaper, greener power from the open market. This breaks the Discom monopoly and forces them to compete for their most lucrative customers.
In summary, this is a move from “political pricing” to “economic pricing.” It’s a win for industry and the fiscal health of the power sector, but for the average voter, it introduces a new anxiety: the fear that when the regulator decides the price, the vote bank no longer controls the switch.
THE INDIA BRIEF
Politics & Policy
The Welfare Rewrite: VB-G RAM G Enacted
📜 Law: MGNREGA repealed; replaced by VB-G RAM G Bill.
🚜 Change: Shifts from ‘Right to Work’ to ‘Livelihood Mission’.
🗣️ Reaction: Sonia Gandhi labels it a “Black Law” in video address.
The Wit: Renaming schemes is the national pastime, but removing Gandhi from rural employment is quite the statement. It’s no longer a “guarantee” if the government decides the budget is tight.
The Lens:The structural shift is profound: moving from a demand-driven legal right (unlimited funding theoretically) to a mission-mode scheme (capped allocations). It centralises control over rural distress relief, potentially weakening the safety net during droughts.
Republic Day Diplomacy: EU Chiefs Invited
🇪🇺 Guests: EU Commission & Council Presidents invited for Jan 26.
🤝 Agenda: Pushing the stalled India-EU Free Trade Agreement.
🎶 Theme: Celebrations to feature a ‘Vande Mataram’ theme.
The Wit: Nothing says “let’s sign a trade deal” like making European bureaucrats sit through a five-hour parade in the Delhi winter. Hope they like their tea sweet and their protocol strict.
The Lens: This dual invitation signals India’s intent to decouple economically from China by courting the European bloc. It’s a strategic pivot, aiming to finalise the FTA that has been stuck in bureaucratic purgatory for years. Oh and Vande Mataram theme?? Someone really is riled up about manipulating people’s emotions.
Mumbai Politics: Congress Goes Solo
🗳️ Decision: Congress to fight BMC elections alone.
💔 Split: Breaks away from Shiv Sena (UBT) & NCP (SP) alliance.
🏙️ Reason: Discomfort with Uddhav’s proximity to Raj Thackeray.
The Wit: Alliance dharma in Maharashtra has a shorter shelf life than milk left out in May. The Congress decided it would rather sink alone than swim with the “sons of the soil” rhetoric.
The Lens: A four-cornered contest in India’s richest civic body inevitably benefits the BJP. Congress is protecting its North Indian vote bank, but strategically, this fractures the anti-incumbency vote bank entirely.
Economy & Tech
The $5 Trillion Oracle: Scindia’s Prediction
📈 Claim: India to beat Germany as 3rd largest economy by 2027.
🦄 Data: Startups grew from 3 (2014) to 122 (2025).
🎓 Venue: Youth Entrepreneurs Forum, Indore.
The Wit: Economists use complex models; politicians use vibes. Overtaking Germany is inevitable, but doing it by 2027 might require German efficiency, which we are still working on.
The Lens: Scindia is accelerating the timeline (IMF says 2028-29). It’s an aggressive narrative designed to boost investor sentiment, but nominal GDP growth needs to outpace inflation significantly to hit this target so soon. And also, is anyone thinking about per capita income? What are we doing about that? Being highest aggregate GDP does only so much for humans on ground.
Power Play: Cost-Reflective Tariffs
⚡ Bill: Electricity Amendment Bill mandates cost-reflective tariffs.
💸 Goal: Reduce cross-subsidies; aid industry competitiveness.
🛡️ Promise: States can still give subsidies (directly).
The Wit: “Cost-reflective” is bureaucrat-speak for “your bill is going up.” The days of industries paying for your cheap AC usage are numbered.
The Lens: Empowering regulators to hike tariffs suo motu removes the political brake on power prices. It’s fiscally prudent for Discoms but politically explosive for state governments facing elections.
Gaming Giant: Krafton’s India Bet
🎮 Fund: Krafton launches $669M India-focused fund.
🤝 Partners: Naver and Mirae Asset join the pool.
🌏 Target: Tech and gaming startups in India.
The Wit: PUBG money is coming back to India, hopefully without the ban hammer this time. South Korea is betting big that Indians will never stop scrolling.
The Lens: This is one of the largest sector-specific funds dedicated to India. It cements the Indo-Korean tech corridor and validates India’s status as the next great digital consumption market after China.
Decathlon’s Factory Floor: Make in India
👟 Target: Decathlon to source 15% global production from India.
🏭 Timeline: Goal set for 2030.
🌍 Context: ‘China Plus One’ supply chain diversification.
The Wit: Your next pair of Quechua hiking boots will likely be stitched in Tamil Nadu. We are slowly becoming the world’s factory, one affordable sneaker at a time.
The Lens: Global brands are moving beyond using India as a retail market to using it as a manufacturing hub. This aligns perfectly with the PLI schemes, boosting low-skill manufacturing jobs which are desperately needed.
Civil Society & Environment
Tragedy on Tracks: Rajdhani Kills Elephants
🐘 Death Toll: 7 elephants killed by Rajdhani Express.
📍 Location: Hojai district, Assam (Non-notified corridor).
🚆 Impact: Engine and 5 coaches derailed.
The Wit: We have AI to write assignments but not to detect a herd of elephants on a track. “Development” shouldn’t mean bulldozing the gentle giants of the forest.
The Lens: The failure of acoustic buzzers and lack of real-time monitoring in non-corridor zones is systemic. Our heart goes out to the families of the dead elephants.
The Great Smog: Flights Grounded
✈️ Chaos: 129 flights cancelled at Delhi Airport.
🌫️ Cause: Dense fog; Visibility near zero.
😷 AQI: Air quality remains in ‘Severe’ category.
The Wit: Delhi airport turned into a very expensive waiting room. If you wanted to fly yesterday, you’d have had better luck with a broomstick.
The Lens: The annual collapse of Delhi’s transport infrastructure due to fog highlights a lack of CAT-III readiness and operational resilience. It’s an economic choke point that costs millions every winter.
Judicial Shield: Live-in Couples Protected
⚖️ Ruling: Allahabad HC grants protection to 12 live-in couples.
📜 Basis: Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam presumes marriage.
🛡️ Order: Police directed to stop family harassment. ‘Living together without marriage cannot be termed an offence, no one can object to, and cause a hindrance to, peaceful existence of the couples’
The Wit: The courts are finally telling nosy relatives to back off. In Uttar Pradesh, getting judicial permission to date is the new romantic gesture.
The Lens: A progressive ruling in a conservative state. By citing the new Evidence Act to presume marriage in long cohabitation, the court is using the law to shield personal liberty from societal moral policing.
Urban Jungle: Thane Leopard Attack
Incident: Leopard injures 3 in Bhayandar housing society.
🏙️ Context: Close proximity to Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
💉 Response: Govt proposes sterilisation of leopards.
The Wit: Real estate listings in Thane now come with “nature views” that might bite you. The concrete jungle and the actual jungle are overlapping dangerously.
The Lens: Sterilisation is a band-aid solution. The root cause is rampant encroachment on the SGNP buffer zone. Without checking urban sprawl, human-animal conflict in Mumbai’s periphery will only intensify.
Coastal Watch: Port Security Bureau
⚓ Agency: Govt establishes ‘Bureau of Port Security’.
🚢 Mandate: Secure major and non-major ports.
🔒 Trigger: Recent drug hauls and maritime threats.
The Wit: We finally realised that having a coastline of 7,500 km requires more than a guy with a whistle. Better late than never.
The Lens: This centralises maritime security, closing gaps between state police, Coast Guard, and port authorities. It’s a crucial move for national security given the rise in narco-terrorism via sea routes.
Science, Sports & Markets
Solar Vindication: Aditya-L1 Success
☀️ Discovery: ASPEX payload confirms Parker Transport Equation.
🔭 Theory: Validates 40-year-old solar wind diffusion model.
🇮🇳 Status: Moves mission from observation to discovery.
The Wit: Our satellite went all the way to the Sun just to say, “Parker was right.” Theoretical physicists can finally sleep easy; the maths works.
The Lens: This is pure, high-level science. Confirming a decades-old theory elevates ISRO’s standing from a low-cost launcher to a serious contributor to global astrophysics and space weather research.
The Prince Dropped: T20 Squad Shock
🏏 Omission: Shubman Gill dropped from T20 WC 2026 squad.
🧢 Captain: Suryakumar Yadav to lead; Axar Patel vice-captain.
🔙 Returns: Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh included.
The Wit: The “Prince” has been dethroned. The selectors chose violence (strike rate) over aesthetics. It’s a brutal reminder that in T20s, anchoring is a crime.
The Lens: A clear strategic shift towards high-intent batting. Moving away from accumulators like Gill suggests India wants to replicate the aggressive template that won the last World Cup, prioritising boundary hitters.
WORLD WATCH
Bangladesh Boiling: Student Leader Killed
🔥 Event: Protests erupt after student leader Sharif Osman Hadi dies.
🇧🇩 Anger: Mobs attack media houses; anti-India slogans raised.
🚑 Cause: Died in Singapore after being shot in Dhaka.
The Wit: The neighbourhood is on fire again. Bangladesh’s stability has a shorter half-life than a Snapchat message.
The Lens: This is a diplomatic nightmare for India. The anti-India sentiment is being weaponised by opposition forces, threatening to undo the strategic gains made with the interim government.
Operation Hawkeye: US Strikes Syria
💣 Strike: US hits 70+ ISIS targets in Central Syria.
🤝 Ally: Jordanian Air Force participated in the raids.
⚔️ Reason: Retaliation for ambush killing 2 US soldiers.
The Wit: Just when you thought the “Forever War” was over, Uncle Sam brings out the A-10 Warthogs. ISIS forgot the first rule: don’t touch the Americans.
The Lens: A massive projection of force to deter resurgence. Jordan’s public participation is significant, signaling Arab alignment against the jihadist threat despite regional tensions. But would this become another reason for greater mobilisation and resurgence of ISIS?
Terror in Taipei: Metro Attack
🔪 Attack: 4 dead in knife/smoke bomb rampage in Taipei.
🚇 Scene: Main Station & Shopping District targeted.
👮 End: Suspect died fleeing police.
The Wit: A horrifying shatter of peace in one of Asia’s safest cities. It’s a grim reminder that lone wolves are harder to stop than armies.
The Lens: This internal shock will trigger a massive security overhaul in Taiwan. For a society focused on external threats (China), domestic terror creates a new, unsettling vulnerability.
Caribbean Blockade: US Seizes Tanker
🛢️ Seizure: US forces capture 2nd oil tanker off Venezuela.
⚓ Blockade: Enforcing sanctions against Maduro regime.
🚢 Risk: Escalation in international waters.
The Wit: The Caribbean is starting to look like the 17th century again, with state-sponsored privateering. Only this time, the pirates have aircraft carriers.
The Lens: The US is enforcing a de facto naval blockade to strangle the Maduro economy. It’s “maximum pressure” in action, risking a kinetic conflict to force regime change or compliance.
THE GOOD STUFF
🥇 Vir Gahrotra Wins Gold: 16-year-old wins India’s first-ever gold at the Aerial Sports World Championship in Budapest.
❄️ Kashmir’s Postwoman: Ulfata Bano has walked through snow for 30 years to deliver mail in Shopian.
🏠 Zero-Utility Home: Bengaluru couple lives off-grid with rainwater harvesting and solar power (₹100 bill!). Home made of mud.
Sign-Off
If a train hits an elephant in a forest and no AI detects it, does “Viksit Bharat” still make a sound? See you tomorrow.