Will intensify fight against power sector privatisation: AIPEF

Patiala: The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) plans to intensify its efforts to resist the privatisation of the power sector amid mounting pressure from both central and state governments.

Established in 1973 by eminent power engineers including Harbans Singh, R S Verma, Bhopal Singh, Shrikant Mane, Chidambaram, R S S Chauhan, J C Marathe, Padamjit Singh, and Shailendra Dubey, the AIPEF, in a press release, said its mission is to improve the power supply situation in the country and safeguard the interests of the power engineers' fraternity.In Uttar Pradesh, it said, the state govt is attempting to privatisise two discoms, while Maharashtra is pushing for privatisation through parallel licensing.

These privatisation initiatives include tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB), monetisation of transmission assets, and the formation of joint ventures, it said.AIPEF criticised these moves, asserting that both central and state govts are determined to privatisise the power sector regardless of the profitability of state discoms. The federation contends, the release said, that the government views electricity as a business rather than a service to consumers, and argues that privatisation has not improved the sector's efficiency or affordability.

The federation attributed the current crisis to a non-professional bureaucratic approach by central and state govts towards the power sector. Over the years, the Centre has progressively encroached upon state authority, frequently amending the Electricity Law through Electricity (Amendment) Rules, it said, addign that AIPEF remains committed to overcoming the present crisis in the power sector.