The Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) government may take over the Noida Power Company Ltd (NPCL), the state’s first power distribution company supplying electricity to consumers in Greater Noida for the last three decades. The government has served a notice on the company for revoking its licence.
“The validity of the company’s distribution licence is expiring on August 29 next year and the state government has decided not to renew the same making up its mind to take over the company instead,” a senior energy department official said.
The state government, on August 30, 1993, issued the electricity licence to the NPCL for the period of 30 years under the section 3 (1) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910.
The notice issued to the NPCL management by additional chief secretary, energy, Awanish Kumar Awasthi on August 8 said, “The government of Uttar Pradesh hereby directs you to show cause why under public interest the electricity licence 1993 should not be revoked and purchased by the state government.”
The government has given three months’ time to the NPCL to show cause, failing which, the notice said, “the state government would assume that you have nothing to state with regard to revoking of the licence and hence the government would proceed with further action as deemed necessary in public interest.”
“The clause under which the licence was granted to the NPCL gave an option to the state government to purchase the former’s licence on expiry of the period of 30 years from the date of issuance of the licence,” the notice said.
“The state governmet has decided that the period of the licence shall not be extended in favour of the NPCL. The undertaking shall be purchased by the state government or by its designated agency,” it added.
Reacting to the government’s decision to take over the NPCL, UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avdhesh Kumar Verma, who has been demanding the revocation of the company’s licence, said, “the government should promptly revoke the licence so that the issue was not entangled in legal wrangling.”
“The Greater Noida area should immediately be merged with Meerut discoms in larger public interest,” he demanded.
