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Haryana:Backdoor privatisation of power sector will be resisted, says AIPEF chairman
AIPEF chairman, Shailendra Dubey in a statement said that “any back door” privatisation of Haryana’s highest-revenue power areas will be firmly resisted and Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission
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The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) on Monday said that any unilateral move to grant parallel distribution licence to Eleven Power in Gurugram and Nuh will be met with resistance through democratic and legal means.
AIPEF chairman, Shailendra Dubey in a statement said that “any back door” privatisation of Haryana’s highest-revenue power areas will be firmly resisted and Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) should not take any unilateral, hurried or predetermined decision to grant a parallel electricity distribution licence to Eleven Power.
Dubey said that the manner in which the HERC proceedings were being conducted has created serious apprehensions among power engineers, employees, consumers and other stakeholders. “AIPEF already placed this concern before HERC and demanded complete transparency and due process. We are not alleging that HERC has already taken any decision in favor of Eleven Power, but the circumstances demand complete transparency,” Dubey said.
The AIPEF chairman said that if HERC proceeds to grant the licence without first giving AIPEF and all other affected stakeholders a full and meaningful opportunity of hearing, it will raise an extremely serious question mark over the fairness and independence of the regulatory process.
He said that the proposed parallel licence is not a routine commercial matter. Gurugram and Nuh constitute strategically important and high-revenue areas of Haryana’s public electricity distribution system. Any attempt to hand over such revenue-rich areas to a private entity through the regulatory route, without a comprehensive assessment of its consequences for the existing public DISCOM, consumers, farmers, employees and the overall financial viability of the public power sector, would amount to back-door privatisation.
Dubey said that chief minister and the energy minister must intervene immediately and ensure that no decision is taken by HERC in haste or without considering the larger public interest.
“The Haryana government cannot remain a silent spectator if the highest-revenue earning areas of the public electricity distribution system are sought to be carved out through a parallel licence. We appeal to the chief minister and the energy minister to intervene immediately and protect the public interest,” he said.
