New Delhi: On July 9, the electricity supply across India might be affected because about 2.7 million power sector workers are planning a one-day strike. They are protesting against the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s decision to privatise two of its power distribution companies.
Shailendra Dubey, who leads the All India Power Engineers’ Federation (AIPEF), said the UP government wants to privatise Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PVVNL) and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL). These two companies supply power to 42 out of 75 districts in the state.
Dubey explained that power workers, junior engineers, and engineers across the country have already held large protests against this move. He said that on July 9, 2.7 million power employees will join a big protest, and this could disrupt electricity supply in many parts of India. He also said, “We will not be responsible if the power supply is affected.”
The UP government wants to bring in private companies to help run these two distribution companies because the state is facing frequent power losses and doesn’t have enough transmission infrastructure. Most state-run power companies in India are losing money due to old equipment and regular power losses, so the government is inviting private companies to help improve the situation.
Last year, the Union Power Minister asked states to put their profitable power companies on the stock market to attract more investment and improve their systems, especially to support more renewable energy.
Some states like Delhi and Odisha already have private companies working with the government to supply electricity. For example, Tata Power is a big private company that supplies electricity in Odisha, Delhi, and Mumbai.
On July 9, protests will take place in many cities, including Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Vadodara, Rajkot, Guwahati, Shillong, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Ranchi, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Dehradun, Patiala, Jaipur, Kota, Hisar, and Lucknow.
