Power Bill gets President's nod

MUMBAI: Power secretary RV Shahi said the President had given his nod to the Electricity Bill on Tuesday.
“Ministry hopes to notify this Act in next 8-10 days,� he said at the CII’s Interactive Session on the Electricity Bill 2003. Mr Shahi also mentioned that two separate and distinct policies are on the cards.
Clauses 4 and 5 of the Bill, which relate to the rural sector, call for complete de-licensing of stand-alone generation. Mr Shahi encouraged industrial houses to take their share of this huge market, mentioning that 60% of the population does not have access to electricity.
The highpoint of the bill, according to Mr Shahi, is the de-licensing of electricity generation and distribution.
Another feature of the bill is that open access for transmission and distribution has become mandatory. Under section 42, if a generator-licensee has enough capacity to create power for sale, he can offload his surplus to a distributor-licensee, subject to the discretion of the electricity regulatory commission. Mr Shahi said the supplier can use the distribution network of somebody else, or his own or both.