Haryana’s two state-owned power distribution companies have jointly filed a review petition before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), seeking reconsideration of its October 19 order granting a 25-year parallel electricity distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited (EPPL) for Gurugram and Nuh, officials said on Wednesday.
The strike ended on October 23 after chief minister Nayab Singh Saini assured employees that private players would not be allowed to enter the state’s power distribution sector. The government subsequently invoked Section 108(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003, directing HERC not to operationalise any parallel distribution licence in Haryana. Acting on the directive, HERC on October 28 decided not to proceed further with the licence process as long as the government’s directions remained in force. He said the government and unions would seek to defend HERC’s October 28 order before the appellate tribunal.
Because the October 28 order had only suspended further proceedings without setting aside the original decision granting the licence, a senior DHBVN official said the review petition was necessary. Therefore, the original order needs to be reviewed and reconsidered,” the official said. “If the government withdraws its directions in the future, the order granting the parallel distribution licence could become operative. Ghanghas also urged the state government to take a clear policy decision on parallel distribution licences, warning that power department unions would launch another statewide protest if the government attempted to introduce privatisation.
The official said one of the principal objections concerned the capital investment required to establish and operate a parallel electricity distribution network in the two districts.
