Press Note of All India Power Engineers Federation
ALL INDIA POWER ENGINEERS FEDERATION
Press Note
31 October, 2025
Nationwide agitation by power employees and engineers against the campaign to privatize DISCOMS across the country in the name of financial assistance, based on the decisions of the Group of Ministers meeting;
Nationwide movement against Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the proposal for privatization of distribution companies
The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has announced that, in protest against the attempt to hand over DISCOMS across the country to private entities in the name of financial assistance from the Centre, as per the decisions taken in the Group of Ministers meeting on 10 October, power engineers will launch a nationwide agitation in coordination with electricity employees throughout the country.
All India Power Engineers Federation Chairman Shailendra Dubey and Secretary General P. Ratnakar Rao stated that electricity is listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution under the Concurrent List, which means that the Centre and the states have equal authority in matters related to electricity. In such a scenario, how can the decision to privatize DISCOMS across the entire country be imposed based on a meeting of the Group of Ministers from just six states?
They said that the Group of Ministers meeting held on 10 October included the power ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan. An agreement was reached among them to provide three options to the DISCOMS for getting financial assistance from the Centre. The first option is to privatize the distribution corporations by selling 51% equity; the second is to sell at least 26% equity to the private sector and accept private sector management; and the third is to list the electricity distribution corporations on the stock exchange.
The All India Power Engineers Federation expressed surprise that, based on the decisions of the Group of Ministers from six states, the Union Finance Ministry and the Union Power Ministry have started working on this draft, and it is being reported that the central government is preparing to present and pass this proposal in the upcoming budget session of Parliament.
They said that on one hand, the Government of India released the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 on 09 October to allow the private sector to use the network of government DISCOMS, and on the other hand, without waiting for it, on the very next day, 10 October, a decision was taken to impose privatization of electricity distribution corporations on the states in the name of financial assistance. The Federation stated that this gives the impression that the central government is extremely eager to privatize the entire power sector.
Federation Chairman Shailendra Dubey said that this is outright blackmail and an attempt to privatize through the back door, which will be strongly opposed jointly by the country’s 2.7 million electricity employees and engineers.
He informed that a meeting of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers is being held in Mumbai on 03 November. In this meeting, discussions will be held on the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 and the pressure being exerted for privatization in the name of financial assistance, and a decision will be taken for a nationwide movement.
Shailendra Dubey
Chairman
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