FM unveils power sector reforms as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

The finance minister has unveiled significant power sector reforms as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The government has announced tariff policy reforms to encourage consumer rights, promote industry and ensure sustainability of the sector. The key provisions of the policy relate to progressive reduction of cross-subsidies, implementation of standards of service for discoms, penalties for load shedding, time-bound grant of open access, competitive bidding for generation and transmission projects, minimising regulatory assets, timely payment to gencos, smart prepaid metering, and direct benefit transfer of subsidies. Besides, the privatisation of power departments/ utilities in union territories has also been announced. This will serve a model for emulation by other utilities across the country.