In India, utility debts threaten Modi's power-for-all drive

Mumbai

WITH a three-year government rescue package coming to a close, the highly indebted northern Indian state of Rajasthan is getting tough - it's demanding farmers start paying for their electricity.

In a country where rural communities have become used to free power by hook or by crook, the state that is home to some 70 million is tasking private firms with running power distribution in its big cities as it tries to recoup what it's owed.