Haryana power regulator concludes hearing on firm’s parallel power petition

The regulator in its September 29 order said the process of making an application for grant of licence public, inviting comments and affording an opportunity of hearing to interested persons is essentially consultative in nature

The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) on Tuesday brought to end the process of hearings in a petition filed by a private company, Eleven Power for grant of a parallel power distribution license in Gurgaon and Nuh revenue districts.

The panel headed by retired IAS officer, Alok Nigam in its report submitted to the commission said the committee has not found any ground upon which the Eleven Power’s petition falls to be refused. (HT File)

The regulator in its September 29 order said the process of making an application for grant of licence public, inviting comments and affording an opportunity of hearing to interested persons is essentially consultative in nature and ought not to be converted into an adversarial proceeding.

“The representations submitted by individuals and institutions are intended to facilitate broad based participation of stakeholders in the regulatory process. However, such a process, under the guise of public interest and principles of natural justice, cannot be permitted to continue indefinitely through repeated replies, rejoinders and hearings. The Commission, therefore, considers it appropriate to put an end to the hearing process. Order is reserved,’’ said the Commission’s order.

An expert committee constituted by HERC to examine the petition of the 2025 incorporated private company Eleven Power for a parallel electricity distribution licence in Gurugram and Nuh districts recommended that the license may be granted. State owned power distribution company, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) at present exclusively serves electricity consumers in the two districts. Sunil Sachdeva, the co- founder of Medanta - The Medicity, a leading chain of multi-super specialty hospitals is the director of Eleven Power and chairman of Eleven Group.

The panel headed by retired IAS officer, Alok Nigam in its report submitted to the commission said the committee has not found any ground upon which the Eleven Power’s petition falls to be refused. “The committee accordingly recommends that a parallel distribution licence may be considered to be granted to the applicant subject to the conditions as suggested in schedules A to D. The matters requiring regulatory attention are matters of implementation, sequencing and continuing supervision and the committee has recommended the licence conditions and safeguards by which they may be addressed,’’ said the report which is recommendatory in nature.

The committee’s recommendations, however, are being challenged by the power engineer’s bodies who have raised questions over whether a new licensee can fulfil the statutory condition of universal supply obligation (USO) while building its network in a phased manner.

While Eleven Power has committed to spend about ₹4,716 crore in five years, from 2026-27 till 2030-31, with 84% of its five-year capital expenditure being in the last three years, the expert panel has accepted this phased investment plan, notwithstanding the contention raised by DHBVN that ₹11,397 crore would be required to create infrastructure capable of meeting the universal service obligation (USO) across two districts. Brushing aside DHBVN’s argument, the panel has treated the two estimates as based on different approaches for network development with Eleven Power proposing a phased, demand linked rollout.