Advice from energy adviser

     This relates to power prices on which the energy adviser differed from the finance minister's pragmatic and realistic observation that it will go up over the next three years. The matter was reported by all the print and audiovisual media some days back. Realistically , the finance minister is absolutely correct since electricity tariff is now highly subsidised and is artificially low, which needs to be rationalised by periodic price increases. On the other hand , the opinion of the prime minister's adviser is totally theoretical, to say the least .His statement was that 'it cannot be predicted whether prices will be increased or decreased .' Unless the government wants to foot the bill , which is highly unlikely if not impossible , energy prices are bound to go up. Based on these facts of life , the advice of the energy adviser is not 'worth the paper' in which it was printed.
      With such an academic and theoretical adviser. one wonders if the prime minister gets any realistic and practical advice on energy matters. If this is so, then she may be just throwing away good money after bad. There are many qualified and knowledgeable people around on energy matters whose advice will be of far better quality than the one quoted above.