Gurugram/Nuh, July 10: The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission has established a three-member expert panel to scrutinize an application from a newly formed private company seeking a parallel power distribution license in the high-revenue districts of Gurugram and Nuh. Headed by a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, the panel is tasked with evaluating the operational, legal, and economic impacts of introducing a second electricity network into areas currently served exclusively by the state-owned utility. The regulatory commission finalized the committee’s formation through an interim order issued on Thursday, reserving its final judgment on the matter until the independent body submits its comprehensive findings.
The request for the parallel license was introduced under the statutory provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, by Eleven Power Private Limited, a company incorporated last year. The firm is led by director Sunil Sachdeva, who is famously known as the co-founder of the Medanta healthcare chain. According to the commission’s directive, the specialized body will function strictly as an advisory entity. The regulator declared, “The committee shall function as an independent expert body, and its report shall be recommendatory in nature, which shall neither affect nor fetter the statutory powers of the commission to adjudicate in accordance with the Electricity Act, 2003.”
The expert team will meticulously review the initial petition, along with the numerous technical replies, objections, and public comments submitted by various stakeholders and state power utilities. The panel will focus heavily on determining whether the private applicant fulfills the baseline capital adequacy, creditworthiness, and strict code of conduct guidelines mandated by state electricity rules updated through 2022. State-owned Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam currently retains sole distribution rights in the two target districts, making the potential entry of a commercial competitor a highly sensitive regulatory issue.
The designated committee must deliver an unambiguous, reasoned report outlining clear recommendations and suggested license conditions for the state’s power network. To reach its conclusions, the panel is empowered to explore all available records and evidence brought forward during the multi-party regulatory hearings held earlier this week. Once the report is officially logged, the state commission will resume its legal evaluation to decide if the established state-managed energy framework will be altered to allow parallel corporate operations.
