Sending a message to states that stick to policies that cripple the power sector, the Centre on Saturday said power departments and distribution utilities in Union Territories (UTs) will be privatised, with the facility of open access for industrial consumers. The moves comes at a time the overdues of state-run discoms to generators have crossed Rs 80,000 crore and the Centre had to pitch in, with another Rs 90,000 financing facility under state guarantee to keep their operations unaffected.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre hopes the privatisation of UT discoms will “provide a model for emulation by other utilities across the country”. Also, the minister said the government will soon release the new tariff policy, which was being worked on since May 2018. Currently, roughly 35% of the power being consumed in the country are paid for by the consumers as government subsidies galore, while the release of these get delayed.
