Electricity Act amendments to come into effect by April: Goyal

Amendments to the Electricity Act, to bring in various reforms including to improve power supply and enable consumers to choose their supplier, should come into effect by April, Power Minister Piyush Goyal today said.
Speaking at a TERI event, the minister said, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December, last year, will become law by April.
The proposed amendments to the existing Act will promote competition, efficiency, and improvement in the supply of electricity in the country resulting in capacity addition and benefit to the consumers.
The Cabinet, in December last year, approved various amendments to the existing Electricity Act 2003, aimed at enabling consumers to choose their electricity supplier, among other reforms.

The Central government has also said wherever there are existing power purchase agreements, the interests of stakeholders will be protected, which will be done in consultation with the power regulator.
The government plans to allow competition at the last mile or to the end-consumer without raising tariff or compromising on better customer service.

Meanwhile, the minister said that the government is committed to thrust on renewable power generation.
He said that the government plans to take wind energy generation to 60,000 MW in the next 4-5 years from around 20,000 MW currently.
The government, which also plans to have 1,00,000 MW of installed solar capacity by 2022, has identified 40,000 MW of immediate potential for rooftop solar.