Govt keen on clipping MERC wings: Ajit Pawar

Energy minister Ajit Pawar, while admitting that the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Corporation (MERC) has been in favour of the private companies, told the lower house that the government was keen on bringing in the amendment to clip the regulator’s wings.

Members from the opposition alleged that the MERC rulings had made the consumers in the suburbs to pay higher tariff. Subhash Desai of Shiv Sena said that MERC, by its ruling, allowed Reliance Infra to buy costlier power from BSK Wardha Power Company.

“This led to the additional burden of Rs427 crore, which was passed on to the consumers in the suburbs of the Mumbai,” he said.

Ajit Pawar said that the officials at MERC had misused the powers given to them as the body has quasi-judicial authority. “The corporation was formulated with the intention to protect the interest of the people, but the rulings of the corporation have been in favour of private companies,” he said.

Pawar said that the state government wishes to amend the Electricity Act. He also warned that if the government brought uniformity in the power tariff, Tata Power rates were bound to go up.

“The tariff uniformity was possible only with the help of the cross subsidy, which will be adjusted among the power companies,” he said.