Press Note of All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF)
ALL INDIA POWER ENGINEERS FEDERATION
Press Note 28 October, 2025
Power Engineers Demand Withdrawal of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025: Decision on Nationwide Agitation to Be Taken in Mumbai Meeting on 03 November
The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has demanded from Union Power Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar that the anti-farmer, anti-consumer, and anti-employee Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 be withdrawn immediately. Notably, the Ministry of Power, Government of India, released the draft of this bill on 09 October and has sought comments from stakeholders within one month.
All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) Chairman Shailendra Dubey informed that a meeting of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) is being held in Mumbai on 03 November. In this meeting, a strategy for a nationwide agitation against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 will be prepared, and a united front will be formed with electricity employees, farmers, and common consumers to launch a nationwide movement.
In a statement issued today, All India Power Engineers Federation Chairman Shailendra Dubey said that through the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025, the central government wants to privatize the entire energy sector of the country. After privatization, electricity rates will become so high that they will be beyond the reach of farmers and common consumers.
He said that through Sections 14, 42, and 43 of the Amendment Bill, private companies are being given the right to use the network of government electricity distribution companies to supply power, and in return, they will pay nominal wheeling charges to the government electricity companies. He said that this will mark the beginning of the end of electricity distribution in the government sector.
Shailendra Dubey explained that the entire responsibility for the maintenance and strengthening of the network will lie with the government distribution companies. The financial burden of this will fall on the government electricity distribution corporations. Private companies are being given the freedom to earn money through this network.
He said that under this Amendment Bill, private companies will not have the obligation of universal power supply, the adverse consequence of which will be that private companies will use the government company’s network to supply electricity to profitable industrial and commercial establishments, while the responsibility of supplying power to loss-making farmers and poor domestic consumers will remain with the government electricity distribution corporation. As a result, government electricity distribution companies will become bankrupt and will not even have money to purchase electricity or pay salaries to their employees.
He informed that the Amendment Bill proposes to amend Section 61(g) to eliminate cross-subsidy within the next 05 years. Along with this, the bill provides that electricity tariffs should be cost-reflective, meaning no consumer should be supplied electricity at a price lower than the cost. This means that farmers will have to pay at least Rs 12,000 per month as electricity bill for a 05 horsepower pump. Similarly, electricity rates for consumers below the poverty line will become at least Rs 08 to Rs 10 per unit.
He said that electricity is in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and is on the Concurrent List, which means that the central and state governments have equal rights in matters of electricity. Through this Amendment Bill, the central government is snatching away the rights of the states in electricity matters, and there will be direct intervention by the central government in electricity distribution and tariff determination, which is against the federal spirit of the Constitution.
Shailendra Dubey
Chairman
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