Chandigarh: Despite protests by the UT electricity powermen union, the Chandigarh administration, on the directions of the Union government, has put privatisation of the UT electricity department on fast track. The administration has now fixed a new deadline to complete the privatisation plan by December 2020.
Moving further, the UT administration has also appointed Pawan Kumar Sharma, executive engineer, UT electricity department, as the nodal officer to take action for all activities relating to privatization, including tendering, coordination with various departments, ministry and transaction advisor.
A senior UT official said they had earlier fixed the deadline to complete the project by January 2021, but now they have planned to complete the same by December 2020.
Recently, the state-run power finance corporation (PFC) had appointed Deloitte as the consultant to help with the privatisation of the department.
Senior UT official further added that the nodal officer would coordinate with the PFC and Deloitte for the privatisation project.
In May, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the electricity distribution companies in the Union Territories (UTs) would be privatised. Earlier, the UT had engaged government-owned power finance corporation limited to unbundle the electricity department and transform it into a corporate.
Meanwhile, the UT power department employees continued with their protest against the privatisation move. They have even sought help from city residents and various political parties.
Last year, a letter was written by the UT special secretary (engineering) to the superintending engineer (SE) which stated that the administration had decided to appoint a consultant for the purpose of corporatisation of the electricity wing of the UT engineering department.
The special secretary had also directed the SE to immediately start the process of appointing a consultant through a competitive bidding system.
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), in the past too, had issued directions to the UT administration for restructuring and reformation of the department, which is mandatory as per the Electricity Act, 2003.
As Chandigarh does not have its own power generation, the state transmission utility will be responsible for ensuring smooth transmission of power in the city. State load dispatch centre will be the apex body to ensure integrated operation of the power system. It will also be responsible for optimum scheduling and dispatch of electricity, maintaining accounts of the quantity of electricity transmitted and maintaining control over the intra-state transmission system.