Will oppose bid to privatise power distribution in U.P: Employee unions

The basic condition for parallel licensing is that a company applying for such a licence must have its own power infrastructure.

LUCKNOW Unions of power employees in Uttar Pradesh have said that they will strongly oppose any bid to grant a licence to any private company for parallel electricity distribution in the Noida region or anywhere else in Uttar Pradesh.

The company that has applied for a parallel licence for the Noida region has no such network of its own, say employees. (HT Photo)

In separate statements issued on Wednesday, the U.P. Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti and the U.P. Power Officers’ Association pointed out that a country’s leading business house applied for a licence for parallel power distribution in Noida and Greater Noida. “This is a serious attempt to start privatising the power distribution system in the state but we would allow any such bid to succeed,” said Sangharsh Samiti convenor Shailendra Dubey.

The basic condition for parallel licensing is that a company applying for such a licence must have its own power infrastructure -- like substations, transformers, lines etc -- in the area where it wants to sell power. “However, the company that has applied for a parallel licence for the Noida region has no such network of its own,” added Dubey.

Meanwhile, UPPOA working president Avdhesh Kumar Verma has said it would be “entirely wrong” if any private company was granted licence for parallel supply for Noida and surrounding areas because the region already has minimum possible losses. “We will oppose this attempt at all the levels,” he said.