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In India, the operational performance of the refinery is influenced by many factors. It is important to identify those key drivers which can assist the refineries to uphold and succeed in day-to-day production activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the operational efficiency of seven Indian oil refineries during the period 2010 to 2018.

In this work, a two-stage empirical analysis is proposed. In the first stage, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) – variable return to scale model is used to evaluate the operational efficiency of the Indian oil refineries. The ordinary least square (OLS), random effect generalized least square (GLS) and Tobit model are used in the second stage to identify the key determinants of efficiency and to explain the variation in refinery efficiency.

The first-stage DEA results showed that the Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited are found to be more efficient than the rest of the sampled refineries and attained their efficiency scores of 0.993 and 0.981, respectively, during the study period. The second-stage regression analysis suggested three explanatory variables: refinery structure, utilization rate and distillate yield, which are found to be significant in explaining variations in refinery efficiency.

This study provides valuable information that would help policymakers to formulate policies toward improving the efficiency of underperforming Indian refineries, which reduces the excessive use of resources and gives a competitive advantage.

This study proposes the first-ever application of the profit frontier DEA model for assessing the operational efficiency of oil refineries and explains the variation in refinery’s efficiency using OLS, GLS as well as the Tobit model.

This paper aims to present a practical and sequential application of the theory of constraints (TOC) to eliminate the critical barriers to Indian power transmission system (IPTS) that were limiting the entire power service quality.

This study uses a well-known management technique known as TOC, which has the capability and positive force to eliminate the barrier through sequential managerial procedures. TOC framework can provide practical guidance to stakeholders of the power transmission sectors through situational assessment, conflict resolution, planning and implementing changes required in the IPTS.

This study explains the utility of five-steps thinking process (TP) of TOC especially in the IPTS sector. The study also describes how each step of TP can improve the performance of IPTS against its specified goal. The study brings management’s attention on the system’s weak links that must be leveraged by eliminating them from the system. Major types of constraints are related to the restrictive policy of the sector that mainly include lack of strategic planning, lack of investments and lesser participation of the private players in the IPTS. This study further identifies and suggests various strategies to eliminate the critical barriers of IPTS.

The five-step process of TOC has been successfully applied in manufacturing sector and service sector processes, such as banking and medical services. This paper has uniquely applied TOC in the area of power sector, which is considered as one of key service sectors that form an important share for the Indian economy.

The transition from centralized thermal power plants to distributed renewable energy sources complicates the balance between power supply and load demand in electrical networks. Energy storage systems (ESS) offer a viable solution to this challenge. This research aims to analyze the factors influencing the implementation of ESS in the Indian smart grid.

To analyze the factors affecting ESS deployment in the grid, the SAP-LAP framework (situation-actor-process and learning-action-performance) integrated with e-IRP (efficient-interpretive ranking process) was used. The variables of SAP-LAP elements were selected from expert opinion and a literature review. Here, e-IRP was utilized to prioritize elements of SAP-LAP (actors in terms of processes and actions in terms of performance).

This analysis prioritized five stakeholders in the Indian power industry for energy storage implementation: government agencies/policymakers, ESS technology developers/manufacturers, private players, research and development/academic institutions, and contractors. Furthermore, the study prioritized the necessary actions that these stakeholders must take.

The study’s findings help identify actors and manage different actions in implementing grid energy storage integration. Ranking these variables would help develop a strategic roadmap for ESS deployment and decisions about adopting new concepts.

It is one of the first attempts to analyze factors influencing ESS implementation in the power grid. Here, qualitative and quantitative methodologies are used to identify and prioritize various aspects of ESS implementation. As a result, the stakeholder can grasp the concept much more quickly.