State of Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti, Uttar Pradesh
State governments must privatize power distribution corporations, or the central government will stop grants;
Power workers are outraged by this decision taken at the Group of Ministers meeting;
Every attempt to impose privatization will face nationwide opposition.
The Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti, Uttar Pradesh, stated that it has been learnt that the Group of Ministers of Power meeting held on 16 September agreed to provide three options to state governments for the operation of power distribution corporations, and that state governments that do not accept these three options will stop receiving central government grants.
Office bearers of the Sangharsh Samiti stated that a widespread privatization process is underway in Uttar Pradesh, which electricity workers have been strongly opposing for the past 11 months. Now, agitated by these developments, 27 lakh electricity employees and engineers across the country have come together and will oppose privatization comprehensively. A nationwide movement will be launched, a decision about which will be taken at the meeting of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers on 3 November in Mumbai.
The Sangharsh Samiti stated that the draft of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 was finalized at this very meeting of the Group of Ministers and released by the Ministry of Power on 9 October. The Sangharsh Samiti strongly opposes the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025, which has been introduced for privatization, and demands its immediate withdrawal.
They said that the main agenda of the Distribution Utility Meet 2025 being held on 4 and 5 November in Mumbai is “PPP model for the sustainability of power distribution corporations,” which means privatization.
The Sangharsh Samiti informed that after the discussion held in the meeting of the Group of Ministers of seven states, the Central Government is going to give three options to the states regarding the privatization of electricity; otherwise, the Central Government will stop providing grants to the states.
The first option: the state government should sell 51% stake in power distribution corporations, and these corporations should be run under the PPP model.
The second option: the state government should sell 26% stake in power distribution companies and hand over their management to a private company.
The third option: if states do not want to privatize, they should register their power distribution companies with SEBI and stock exchange and get them listed.
The meeting of the Group of Ministers agreed that states that do not accept any of these options will stop receiving grants or any financial help from the center.
The Sangharsh Samiti stated that electricity is listed on the Concurrent List in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, meaning that the central and state governments have equal authority over electricity. Therefore, how can a decision to privatize electricity be imposed on state governments based on the opinions of seven selected states (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu)?
The Sangharsh Samiti also strongly raised the question: in what capacity and why is the All India Discom Association, which is registered under the Societies Act, being invited to the Group of Ministers meeting? They said that it appears that the All India Discom Association has become a middleman between the government and private companies.
They stated that this is the sole agenda of the Distribution Utility Meet 2025, to be held in Mumbai on 4 and 5 November. It is now clear that the conclusions reached at the Distribution Utility Meet 2025 will be the same as those reached by the Group of Ministers. It appears that the drive to privatize electricity across the country will be carried out rapidly.
The Sangharsh Samiti said that the conditions proposed are an attempt to put undue pressure on the state governments for privatisation and are a form of blackmail, against which a nationwide movement will be launched.
Today, on the 324th day (17 October) of the ongoing movement against privatization in Uttar Pradesh, electricity workers continued their widespread protest across the state.