A national seminar opposing  amendments to electricity act 2003 and privitisation of Discom's standard bidding document was held today
at Bengaluru, said V K Gupta Spokesperson All India Power Engineers  Federation(AIPEF).
 
The seminar was addressed by Shailendra Dubey Chairman AIPEF, Vishwanath Hiremath ex-chairman RERC, Rathnakar Rao Secretary-General  AIPEF, Mohan Sharma General Secretary AIFEE, T M Shivpraksham Secretary-General KEB Federation, Sri Arasappa President BASSIA, K Chandrashekhar President Karnataka Farmers Association, K Santhakumar President Karnatka Sugar cane Federation, Sadruddin Rana working President AIFEE, and M Venktaswamy President Karnatka DSS Federation.

Shailendra Dubey Chairman  All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF)  said that  the draft standard bidding document for discoms  is not to reform the sector but to privatise it across the country in one go.

This is despite the fact that 12 states have opposed the draft electricity amendment bill. The central government want to give huge undue benefits to the corporate houses at the cost of employees and consumers who are the biggest stakeholders.

The central government want to gift the power sector to the private sector despite the fact that electricity is a concurrent subject. The farmers are opposing the amendment bill because the subsidies and cross-subsidies will be abolished in one go. How the state governments will subsidize the farmers which are yet to clear subsidy bills of Discoms to the tune of 75000 crores.

The central government is forcing the states not to negotiate the power purchase agreements done at the rate of Rs.  6 to 15 per unit for solar power when cheaper solar power at Rs. 2 per unit is available The consumer is bound to suffer.

The central government wants to give a clean slate to the private sector without bothering its employees who will be at the mercy of private players. There is a provision to recover the cost of service from the consumers which will be higher for people living in remote areas and farmers.  Rental for the land at a nominal rate in SBD implies an invisible subsidy to the private company. This means an incremental hidden profit to the private player,   which cannot be to be quantified, as there is no asset register with any of the Discoms.

There is no principle for privatization as can be seen from the move to privatise Chandigarh electricity department which is running in profits.