Sarma denounces Electricity Bill

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 3. The Electricity Minister, Mr. S. Sarma, has expressed the State's strong reservations about the Electricity Bill, ``which envisages the privatisation of the power sector in the country'', being introduced in Parliament by the BJP-led Government.

Mr. Sarma said the provisions of the Bill were meant only to weaken the State Electricity Boards, thereby paving the way for their privatisation. The Bill was also an encroachment into the rights of the State Governments to decide how to run the affairs of their power sector.

A Government press release issued here today said Mr. Sarma did not mince words while presenting these views at a meeting of the Chief Ministers and State Electricity Ministers convened in New Delhi by the Prime Minister today.

He also communicated the State's protest over the non- inclusion of the expansion programme at the Kayamkulam unit of the National Thermal Power Corporation in the proposals for the Tenth Five- Year Plan.

He said the tariff on the power generated at the Kayamkulam project could be brought down considerably. The project should also shift to liquified natural gas (LNG) fuel, instead of naphtha.

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Section  : Southern States
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