Aiming to boost the financial health of state electricity boards (SEBs), Power Secretary P Uma Shankar has said that the government is in the process of drafting legislation on making States accountable for introducing new power sector reforms.
“This is part of the restructuring package. There will be a State Electricity Distribution Responsibility Bill which will be drafted by the Ministry of Power and sent to the States for enactment. We are working on it,” he said. The bill seeks to put the onus on State governments for the health of SEBs. The move to draft the bill comes against the backdrop of the government coming out with a debt restructuring package of `1.9 lakh crore for SEBs.
Under the package, 50 per cent of the short-term outstanding liabilities would be taken over by the State governments. This will be first converted into bonds to be issued by power distribution companies to participating lenders backed by State government guarantees.