Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025
Context:
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025 has been introduced to modernize India's power sector, addressing inefficiencies and financial strain while promoting competition.
It aims to support the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 by creating a future-ready, financially viable, and consumer-centric electricity ecosystem.
Key Provisions & Features:
It moves away from the monopoly supply model
It facilitates regulated competition by allowing multiple licensees to operate in the same area using shared infrastructure.
It promotes cost-reflective tariffs to ensure financial viability.
It aims to eliminate cross-subsidy for manufacturing industries, railways, and metros within five years to boost competitiveness.
It fully protects subsidized tariffs for farmers and low-income households through transparent budgeted subsidies.
It enables shared use of distribution networks to prevent wasteful duplication and lower system costs.
it introduces provisions for Energy Storage Systems (ESS).
It establishes an Electricity Council for better Centre-State coordination.
It empowers State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to enforce standards and penalize non-compliance.
Significance:
The Bill seeks to resolve the financial distress of discoms caused by high AT&C losses and poor billing efficiency.
It aims to make Indian industry more competitive by rationalizing electricity costs and reducing hidden cross-subsidies.