The Electricity, gas & water industry contributed 2.8% to GDP in 2005-06. Electricity is the largest part of this industry and contributes 65% to industry value added. Water, sewerage and drainage's share of value added is 29% and Gas is just 6%. Prior to 1990, the industry was highly regulated, and most utilities operated as monopolies. The electricity industry was vertically integrated in most, if not all jurisdictions, with single companies responsible for generation, transmission, distribution and retail. Significant reforms occurred in the three sectors over the 1990s (SCNPMGTE 1997). However, different jurisdictions approached deregulation on different time frames. Some of the reforms included corporatisation, privatisation, and the structural separation of electricity utilities. These reforms have continued in this decade.
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