Mumbai, June 04: Electricity Act 2003 is likely to be notified in next 10 days while national electricity policy and tariff policy will be formulated in the six-eight months, Union power secretary R V Shahi said today. "The presidential assent to the act was received yesterday and the power ministry would work to notify the same", Shahi said, addressing an interactive session organised by Confederation of Indian Industries here.
"The draft tariff policy will be circulated for discussion in six weeks and draft for electricity policy will follow," he said.
The rural electricity supply and electrification policies would also be formulated in about same time frame, he said.
Shahi said the ministry would move a proposal to amend the Electricity Act so that power generation entities could have "open access" or use of distribution network of other players to reach consumers in a definite time frame.
"The Electricity Regulatory Commissions have one year time to spell out policy on open access. But, we do not want its implementation to take longer time. We look for three to five year period for implementation".
"While formulating eligibility criterion for distribution companies, we will define areas taking into account municipal limits, district or its subdivision", he said.
These distribution bodies would not be allowed to do "cherry picking" and carry an obligation to supply power all consumers in the specified area, he said. Bureau Report