Delhi govt to present White Paper on power sector
7 March 2015 4:56 AM IST
The Paper will focus on what the AAP has inherited from the previous government and their future plans to improve up on the power situation in the national Capital.
Power minister Satyendra Jain formed the committee and directed former DERC head Berjinder Singh to look into various aspects of the power sector, right from 2002 and submit the Paper within a period of three months.
However, chairman Berjinder Singh had earlier recommended a 25 per cent power tariff reduction for the city, claiming that the discoms were running in surplus of Rs 3,277 crore in 2010-11. But, before this tariff could be announced, it was stalled by the Sheila Dikshit government.
In reference to the matter, power minister Jain said that the discoms accounts audit by the CAG and the White Paper on power sector are entirely different matters. “Our government had ordered for the CAG to audit the three private firms, including BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and Tata power Delhi Distribution Private Limited,” said Jain.
After the completion of report, it will be placed in the Assembly. The White Paper will also cover the time frame from 2002, when the Congress was in power, during which the sector witnessed privatisation.
“The White Paper will also focus on how and why the privatisation of power was done. Apart from that, the committee will also examine the power project agreements. I will concentrate on the steps to be taken to improve up on the power situation so that people don’t face problems,” Jain said.
The Delhi government proposes to place in the public domain all relevant facts related to the privatisation of electricity distribution in Delhi and whether or not, the specific purpose for which privatisation occurred, has been achieved during the last 13 years.
The AAP had issued a White Paper on the state of the power sector before the 2015 assembly elections, which focused on the massive debts to discoms in Delhi; the costing of coal-based power and the need for a CAG audit of the discoms. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government has already announced that it will set up a coal-based power plant in another state and is pushing to get the discoms audited through CAG.
Power minister Satyendra Jain formed the committee and directed former DERC head Berjinder Singh to look into various aspects of the power sector, right from 2002 and submit the Paper within a period of three months.
However, chairman Berjinder Singh had earlier recommended a 25 per cent power tariff reduction for the city, claiming that the discoms were running in surplus of Rs 3,277 crore in 2010-11. But, before this tariff could be announced, it was stalled by the Sheila Dikshit government.
In reference to the matter, power minister Jain said that the discoms accounts audit by the CAG and the White Paper on power sector are entirely different matters. “Our government had ordered for the CAG to audit the three private firms, including BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and Tata power Delhi Distribution Private Limited,” said Jain.
After the completion of report, it will be placed in the Assembly. The White Paper will also cover the time frame from 2002, when the Congress was in power, during which the sector witnessed privatisation.
“The White Paper will also focus on how and why the privatisation of power was done. Apart from that, the committee will also examine the power project agreements. I will concentrate on the steps to be taken to improve up on the power situation so that people don’t face problems,” Jain said.
The Delhi government proposes to place in the public domain all relevant facts related to the privatisation of electricity distribution in Delhi and whether or not, the specific purpose for which privatisation occurred, has been achieved during the last 13 years.
The AAP had issued a White Paper on the state of the power sector before the 2015 assembly elections, which focused on the massive debts to discoms in Delhi; the costing of coal-based power and the need for a CAG audit of the discoms. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government has already announced that it will set up a coal-based power plant in another state and is pushing to get the discoms audited through CAG.
Next Story
