Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan has, in a letter to the Union Minister of State for Power, Shri R K Singh, expressed the concern of the State regarding the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.
Briefing the media, the Chief Minister said, “If the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 comes into force, the state will not be able to continue the various subsidies being given to consumers through KSEB. The central government will have the authority to decide on the use of non-conventional sources of energy and also appoint the representatives to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.”
“As per the new law, the Distribution Licensee will be able to appoint franchisees in the State without the permission of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The provisions of the Bill would give more Centralised control on a subject that is in the concurrent list. Therefore I have asked the central government to have more consultations with the State on this subject”, he added.
It may be noted that electricity is a concurrent subject at Entry 38 in List III of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. In Kerala, KSEB Ltd, a public sector undertaking under the Government of Kerala is responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of the electricity supply within the state.
