Lucknow, July 30: A body of power department employees said it has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath opposing any move to privatise discom Purvanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam (PVVNL).
It is one of the five power distribution companies which are wholly owned subsidiaries of the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL).Hence, an official of the samiti said that the request has been made to the Chief Minister of UP to cancel any such proposal.
“Shailendra Dubey, the convenor of Samiti and Chairman of All India Power Engineers Federation(AIPEF), through a letter to the chief minister, has requested him to cancel the proposal of privatising Purvanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam," V P Singh, state president of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Parishad Abhiyanta Sangh and member of the Samiti, told reporters.
Even after the pandemic's circumstances employees of various discoms had ensured an uninterrupted power supply in the state.
"Any move to privatise the discom would be a violation of an agreement between Sangharsh Samiti and management of power corporation that was reached in the presence of state power minister Srikant Sharma," said Prabhat Singh, state secretary Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Parishad Abhiyanta Sangh.
In 2009, KESCo was offered to Torrent Power through a franchisee model. Torrent was supposed to manage the billing, connections, and even build additional infrastructure, while KESCo remained the owner. However, Torrent could never make headway due to repeated protests by Opposition parties and employee groups, and the deal was cancelled in 2015.
In 2018, UP had announced it would offer five cities, including capital city Lucknow and Varanasi, to a private distribution franchisee. This, too, did not take off.
Unlike the franchisee model, privatisation of discoms involves vesting ownership of the business with the private player. The company will manage power purchase, build infrastructure, manage billing and collection, and adhere to pre-decided targets of bringing down losses.
