The state government-owned UP Power Corporation Ltd, which has been vigorously pursuing privatisation of power distribution in the state, has taken an unusual decision by seeking licence for distributing electricity in Greater Noida where R P Goenka group’s Noida Power Company Ltd (NPCL_) has been holding the distribution licence for the last 16 years.

The Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UPPCL, has applied for a holding a parallel licence for distributing power in Greater Noida and in this connection the UPPCL has filed a petition before the power regulator, the UP State Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPSERC).

To take a decision on it, the power regulator will be holding a public hearing at Greater Noida on October 1 where all stakeholders, including consumers, have been invited to attend.

Power distribution in Greater Noida was handed over to the private company following an agreement with the then UP State Electricity Board (UPSEB) and NPCL during the then Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav in December 1993.

The contention provided by the UPPCL behind its pursuit of licence is that the NPCL has not been able to meet the power demand in the area which has been growing by leaps and bounds. It also argues that the NPCL did not set up its own power plant of 45 MW-capacity as required under the agreement that it signed in 1993.

“The government has to step in since the industrial expansion in Greater Noida has been badly hit by the shortage of power,” said an official of the UPPCL.

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