Electricity amendment bill to be tabled in Monsoon session

New Delhi, March 7 The standing committee on energy has got time up to the Monsoon Session of the Parliament to present its report before the House.

The Lok Sabha Bulletin Part 2 states, "Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, has granted extension of time to the standing committee on energy (2022-23) for presentation of report on the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 up to the Monsoon Session, 2023 of the Parliament (Bulletin Part-II dated March 3, 2023)."

The Parliamentary standing committee on energy had already sought stakeholders' comments on the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022.

The bill had been referred to the panel, headed by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on November 21, 2022.

The committee has been given three months to finalise a report on the bill.

The bill has received a lot of opposition from farmers and political parties, which have alleged that well-off consumers would opt for private distributors at the expense of state-owned distribution companies, as per its provisions.

The bill seeks to facilitate usage of distribution networks by any entity which gets a distribution licence. This would allow consumers to choose services of any power supplier from among several players operating in a particular region, just like customers have the choice to select mobile networks.

When Power Minister R.K. Singh had introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on August 8, 2022, it had received a lot of protests from opposition parties led by the Congress.