Sushree Mohanty
Torrent Power has stated that the Bombay High Court has suspended the tender process for privatization of a power distribution and conveyance organization in Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Torrent Power had established itself as the highest bidder in the tender for power distribution in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
In the bidding Torrent Power Ltd had bid for 51% of equity share for a company engaged in power distribution in the two Union Territories.
The Company’s secretary Rahul Shah informed the Bombay High Court of staying the tender process through a statement directed to Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.
Shah stated-
“Torrent Power had emerged as the highest bidder in the tender for 51% equity stake in Power Distribution Company for the Union Territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. In this association, we might want to add that the Bombay High Court has, inter alia, suspended the tender process due to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) case moved before the Court until additional orders in the case,”
The distribution companies (Discom) of the Union Territory have a yearly income of about Rs 4,500 crore from its sale of around 9,000 million units of power each year to 1.5 lakh individuals. The power distribution covers the geological territory of 603 square kilometers.
The Bidding for the Distribution Business of the Union Territory was attempted as a new initiative of the Government of India’s drive to privatize such distribution companies of the Territories.
The initiative was undertaken to introduce proficiency that will serve as a model to different utilities in the country.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Annual Budget speech had said that the privatization of these distributing companies will result in improvement of operational and financial productivity in power dissemination.
