Press Note of the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE)
National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE)
B.T. Ranadive Bhawan, 13-A, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110002,
8800580584/8918372750
Email: nccoeee2000@gmail.com
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Press Note. November 4, 2025
NCCOEEE Demands Withdrawal of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025:
Electricity Employees and Engineers to Hold Massive Protest in Delhi on January 30, 2026 Against Electricity Privatization and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025:
27 lakh electricity employees and engineers will hold nationwide protests against this anti-people bill.
The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) has decided to hold a massive protest in Delhi on January 30, 2026, against the privatization of the power sector and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025. The NCCOEEE has demanded that the Central Government immediately withdraw the anti-farmer, anti-consumer, and anti-employee Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025.
The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) met in Mumbai on November 3, 2025. After detailed discussions, it was decided that if the Government of India does not listen to them, then 27 lakh electricity employees and engineers across the country will be forced to launch a nationwide movement against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 and privatization of the power sector.
The meeting also strategized a nationwide movement against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025. A joint front will be formed by electricity employees, farmers, and general consumers to launch the nationwide movement. To launch a joint movement with farmers and workers, it was decided to hold a joint meeting of the NCCOEEE Core Committee with leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and All India Trade Unions in Delhi in December 2025.
It was also decided to hold state-level joint sessions of the NCCOEEE in all states in November, December, and January to organize employees and engineers against privatization and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and to call for a “Delhi Chalo” (March to Delhi) on January 30, 2026.
In a statement issued today, NCCOEEE leaders said that through the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the central government aims to privatize the entire power sector in the country. After privatization, electricity rates will rise so much that they will be beyond the reach of farmers and general consumers. They said that through Sections 14, 42, and 43 of the amendment bill, private companies are being given the right to use the government’s power network. Distribution companies will supply electricity and pay only a nominal wheeling fee to government discoms in return. They said this will mark the beginning of the end of public sector power distribution.
They clarified that the government distribution companies will be solely responsible for maintaining and strengthening the network. The financial burden will fall on the government power distribution corporations, while private companies will be free to earn money through this network.
They said that under this amendment bill, private companies will not be bound by the obligation to provide power supply universally. The adverse effect will be that private companies will use the government company’s network to supply electricity to profit-making industrial and commercial consumers, while the government power distribution corporations will remain responsible for supplying electricity to farmers and poor domestic consumers. As a result, the government power distribution corporations will become insolvent and will not have the money to purchase electricity or pay their employees.
Thet said that the amendment bill proposes to eliminate cross-subsidies over the next five years by amending Section 61(g). Additionally, the bill provides that electricity tariffs should be cost-reflective, meaning no consumer should be provided electricity below cost. This means that if a 6.5-horsepower pump runs for six hours a day, farmers will have to pay at least Rs 12,000 per month in electricity bills. Similarly, electricity rates for consumers below the poverty line will be at least Rs 10-12 per unit.
Furthermore, the bill proposes to promote shadow electricity markets and market-based trading systems. This will make long-term contracts untenable and electricity costs more volatile.
They stated that electricity is listed in the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, which means that the central and state governments have equal rights over electricity. Through this amendment bill, the central government is usurping the states’ rights over electricity, and this will directly interfere with the distribution and tariff setting of electricity, which is against the federal structure and the spirit of the Constitution.
Present at the press conference were leaders of all India associations of electricity employees and engineers Shailendra Dubey, Comrade Mohan Sharma, Comrade Sudip Dutta, Comrade Krishna Bhoyar, Ratnakar Rao, Sanjay Thakur, Laxman Rathod, and others.
Yours sincerely
AIPEF, AIFEE, EEFI, AIPF, AIFOPDE, INEWF, TNEBPWU, TNEBEF