After Supreme Court order, Chandigarh administration writes to ministry

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7

After the Supreme Court (SC) order, the UT Administration has written to the Ministry of Power for the further course of action on the privatisation of the Electricity Department.

On June 28, the SC had stayed the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court whereby the privatisation process was put on hold.

The Ministry of Power had appointed Deloitte as a consultant to help with the process to privatise the Electricity Department.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal said the matter had been referred to the Ministry of Power and now, the consultant had to give the final recommendation on the issue. “We will proceed further on the privatisation process after getting approval from the ministry,” he said.

Decks have been cleared for the privatisation of the UT Electricity Department after the SC stayed the order of the High Court, which had stayed the privatisation process on May 28. On November 9, 2020, the UT Engineering Department had invited bids for the purpose. On a petition filed by the UT Powermen Union, the High Court had, on December 1, 2020, stayed the tendering process regarding the privatisation.

The petitioner had contended that they were aggrieved by the decision of the government to privatise the department by selling 100 per cent stake of the government in the absence of any provision under Section 131 of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The High Court was also told that the process of privatisation of the department could not be initiated at all, especially when it was running in profits. The sale of 100 per cent stake was unjust and illegal as the department was revenue surplus for the past three years. It was economically efficient, having transmission and distribution losses less than the target of 15 per cent fixed by the Ministry of Power.

However, On January 12, the SC had stayed the order of the High Court and on January 14, the UT resumed the sale of tender for the privatisation process.

After the Administration restarted the process, the union again filed a petition in the High Court, which again stayed the process on May 28.

Six companies — Sterlite Power, ReNew Wing Energy, NESCL (NTPC), Adani Transmission Ltd, Tata Power and Torrent Power — had submitted their bids for the privatisation.

Powermen union, residents against move

On account of suboptimal performance of the power sector, the Central Government had, in May last year, decided to privatise the power distribution sector in UTs to provide better service to consumers. However, the move was opposed by the UT Powermen Union and residents’ welfare associations in Chandigarh.

Criticising the privatisation policy as the Electricity Department is a profit-making utility with low transmission and commercial losses, Gopal Datt Joshi, general secretary, UT Powermen Union, said the government was misleading the public by saying that electricity would be cheaper after privatisation.

Expressing similar views, Satish Khosla, general secretary, Residents Welfare Association, Sector 40, said the privatisation of the department would be harmful for city residents. “Experience shows wherever unbundling has taken place, there has been no appreciable improvement in the electricity system,” he said.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.