Power supply across India may be affected on July 9 as lakhs of employees plan strike; here's why

Power supply across the country may be affected on July 9 as around 27 lakh power sector employees are planning a day-long nationwide strike against the Uttar Pradesh government's move to privatise two of its power distribution companies.

Shailendra Dubey, Chairman of the All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF), said the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to privatise Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (PVVNL) and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL), which together cover 42 of the state's 75 districts.

"On the call of umbrella body National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE), power employees, junior engineers and engineers across the country have held massive demonstrations in protest against the privatisation of the discoms," Dubey said.

It has been decided to hold a massive protest by 27 lakh power employees against the privatisation, Dubey said, adding that the strike on such a large scale may also affect the power supply in the country.

"We will not be responsible if power supply is affected," he said.

According to a state government tender dated January 12, Uttar Pradesh is looking to privatise two of its four power distribution companies as it grapples with frequent power losses and a lack of sufficient transmission infrastructure.

The state is inviting private companies to form partnerships with or privatise state-owned Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, both responsible for power distribution in 21 districts each.

A majority of state power distribution companies in India are incurring losses due to older transmission systems and frequent power losses, prompting the government to bring in private players.

Last year, the Union Power Minister had asked states to list their profit-making power utilities on the stock exchange to meet increasing investment demand in the sector and improve transmission systems to add more renewable capacity.

New Delhi and Odisha already have private-public partnerships in power distribution. Tata Power is a major private player operating in Odisha as well as Delhi and Mumbai.

The demonstrations on July 9 will be held mainly in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Vadodara, Rajkot, Guwahati, Shillong, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Ranchi, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Dehradun, Patiala, Jaipur, Kota, Hisar and Lucknow.