THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
The Goa government does not have any proposal on the table currently to privatise electricity distribution in the State before it and will resist Tata Power Company Ltd’s application before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC).
“There is no official proposal to privatise electricity distribution before the government. This is currently shouldered by the Electricity Department and it is the sole licencee for the State,” a top government source told The Goan on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, the JERC will have to formally notify the State government about Tata Power's bid to seek a licence which has not happened as yet.
Tata Power, it may be recalled, has formally petitioned JERC for a distribution licence covering the entire State, a move that could end the Electricity Department’s monopoly.
The JERC sitting in Gurugram on June 4 passed an interim order on Tata's plea, noting deficiencies in compliance and gave the company until August 4 to file a compliance affidavit.
Senior Tata Power official Manish M Dahake has also applied to several village panchayats, including Cana Benaulim and Curtorim, seeking consent letters as mandated by JERC and the outreach bypassing the State government has left GED officials flummoxed, as no notice has yet been formally served to them by the Commission.
Government insiders say the administration views Tata Power’s bid as an attempt to privatise a critical public utility where massive capital investments have already been made in recent years on upgrading transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The government is expected to present its objections before JERC after it is officially notified by the commission.
