HT Chandigarh Our Take: Power privatisation should not come as a shock
The Punjab and Haryana high court early this week stayed the Chandigarh administration’s move to privatise the power department while acting on the plea of the UT Powermen Union, a worker’s collective that challenged the move.
The administration is going for 100% privatisation of distribution and supply functions of the electricity wing of the UT’s engineering department. It took the decision on May 12 after directions from the Centre. An empowered committee has been constituted to oversee and implement the process. The administration has assured the Centre that the process will be completed by the end of this year.
As many as 17 firms, including Adani Transmission Limited, Tata Power Company Limited, GMR Generation Asset Limited, NTPC Electricity Supply Limited and Sterlite Power, have expressed interest after the administration on November 9 invited bids for privatisation, which primarily involves the distribution of electricity supply.
