The Hindu Business Line : Power Ministry favours strong regulatory set-up

FACED with flak from several quarters to its proposed amendments to the Electricity Act 2003, the Union Power Ministry today said it was in favour of having a "strong regulatory set-up" in the sector.

This comes even as the Ministry has circulated a proposal seeking views of various Ministries on bringing about amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, which include provisions to dilute the powers of the regulators.

"We are certainly in favour of a strong regulator. There is no question of diluting their power," the Power Secretary, Mr R.V. Shahi, told presspersons here after addressing the fresh batch of executive trainees of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

In fact, the opposition to the proposals, seeking to make regulators fall in line with Government directives while setting tariffs, has received objections from within the Central Government itself. The Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission have strongly opposed the Power Ministry proposal, while the Left Parties have also said they would also oppose the move, Government officials said.

Mr Shahi said inter-ministerial consultations were underway and the draft amendments had been sent to various ministries before the final proposal would be sent to the Cabinet. He said the States also have to be consulted on issues related to the changes in the Act.

On being asked on the Left parties' opposition, he said: "Views of all have to be taken before a final proposal is made. Not all comments and views can be taken as final now."

On the ongoing coal shortage, he said all issues related to the feedstock had been resolved at the August 6 meeting where the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had asked to put into action all plans to end the shortage. "We are importing 13.45 million tonnes coal this year and would import another 20 million tonnes next year," he said.

Currently, he said, no power plant was facing any problem related to supply of coal. The Coal Ministry has already stepped up production and was streamlining block allocation process to ease supply situation in the medium term, he said.

The Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC, Mr C.P. Jain, said on the occasion that from the current capacity of 23,749 MW, the power major would raise capacity by 9,160 MW during the current five-year Plan period.

Asserting that NTPC would be building integrated power plants, he said coal mining was an emerging area for the PSU. He said NTPC has three hydropower projects under construction process and it was looking for new opportunities in the field along with those in the gas-based projects. Distribution was another area that the state-owned company was eyeing, Mr Jain said.

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