Industry cheers, states clamour over Electricity Bill amendments

The amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, introduced in Parliament recently, have given overarching power to the Centre and central government agencies in areas that were either a state subject or followed a federal model.

While this has irked electricity regulators in a few states, the industry is cheering the paradigm shift since it will push reforms and private investment in the power distribution sector.

The Bill has in total 35 proposed amendments. Of those, half would be within the purview of what is being termed as ‘prescribed by the Centre’. This includes provisions related to inviting private investment in