Draft Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Overview

The Ministry of Power (MoP) recently floated an amended version of the Electricity Act 2003, after previous attempts to introduce changes in 2014 and 2018. The draft bill aims at ìthe development of the electricity industry through promoting competition and address a few critical issues, which have weakened the commercial and investment activities in the sector.î The Bill proposes various reforms having direct impacts on power bills of the consumers. In the backdrop of financially stressed utilities, increased push to renewables and an overall economic slowdown in India and across the globe, there is an imminent need to revamp the Indian power sector. However, to achieve that in a just and sustainable way, it becomes crucial to assess the policy imperatives of the major changes proposed. This Bill Blow up is an effort in this direction.