New Delhi:
Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal has said the licenses of two of three of the firms that supply power to Delhi should be cancelled because they have warned of blackouts on account of financial difficulties.
Mr Kejriwal's request was made in writing to the power sector regulator in New Delhi.
The two firms he has written about today, BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna, are owned by Anil Ambani's Reliance Infra Group, and owe money to the state-run NTPC from which they buy electricity.
Last week, BSES Yamuna said it had run out of money to buy power and said its consumers - most of Central and East Delhi - could face huge power cuts. NTPC refused to blink, saying it would not supply power unless it was paid its dues.
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission then sanctioned a price hike of between 6 to 8% for electricity in Delhi, which was condemned by Mr Kejriwal as an unacceptable "burden on the people." (
Read AAP's statement)
A BSES spokesperson told NDTV this evening that the company is not aware of Mr Kejriwal's initiative to cancel its license.
Power in Delhi was privatized in 2003; since then, the three distribution companies that buy electricity from state-run firms say they have been forced to sell power at below-market rates, resulting in the accumulation of vast losses worth thousands of crores.
Within a week of Mr Kejriwal taking office, he delivered on a pre-election promise of halving electricity prices for the capital. His Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claims that discoms and earlier Delhi governments colluded to over-charge customers for power. He has asked the national auditor to inspect the accounts of the three firms.