The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) published on May 22 the application submitted by Tata Power Company Limited (TPCL) seeking the grant of a parallel distribution licence in 19 revenue districts of Karnataka, covering the operational areas of all five ESCOMs. KERC invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders regarding the proposal. Immediately thereafter opposition to this move was built up through efforts of trade unions of the electricity sector, peasants and other mass organisations, consumer organisations and political parties.

Power sector trade unions held a joint meeting and decided to conduct the broadest mobilisation of various stakeholders like farmers, consumers apart from those working in the electricity sector. This meeting was attended by representatives of the Federation of KPTCL Employees' Unions, KEB Engineers' Association, KEB Diploma Engineers' Association, KEB Accounts Officers' Association, KEB SC/ST Welfare Association, and KEB SC/ST Officers' Association. 

It may be noted here that the Karnataka Electricity Reform Act, 1999 enabled the unbundling of the state utility (KEB) into generation, transmission, and distribution entities, and led to the creation of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). This allowed private participation in generation and paved the way for phased distribution trials. Consequently, a separate corporate entity KPTCL for distribution was set up. A separate corporation KPCL was set up for generation in 1970 itself, unrelated to privatisation efforts. The Electricity (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2001 & 2005 amended the central Electricity Act of 2003 in its application to Karnataka to further the unbundling of the Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) into five ESCOMs -- distinct state-owned corporations (like BESCOM, MESCOM, etc.) -- serving five regions and facilitated their corporate structuring. 

Federation of KPTCL Employees' Unions alerted all employees, engineers, officers, and stakeholders about the serious implications of the proposed parallel licensing and urged them to submit objections before KERC. Simultaneously, meetings were held with farmers' organisations and consumer associations and political parties to mobilise support against the proposal. A large stakeholders' meeting was organised on June 10, to which all organisations concerned were invited. 

The CPI(M) Karnataka State Committee has been mobilising opposition against various forms of electricity privatisation in the state consistently. It held a convention in 2023 demanding withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and organised protests. It has been protesting against various measures towards privatisation – e.g. agreements for private power generation, introduction of smart meters, steep price hikes in electricity rates. 

The terms of the TPCL bid were studied and discussed by the CPI(M) State Committee. Thereafter, it decided to hold a state-level convention on June 21. The convention strongly opposed the privatisation of electricity distribution in Karnataka and demanded the rejection of Tata Power’s application for distribution rights in 19 districts of the state.

The convention, held at the Secretariat Club in Bengaluru, saw participation from various left and democratic parties including CPI, CPI(ML), SUCI(C), AAP, Janata Dal (U), and Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, along with leaders of the All Karnataka Electricity Employees Federation.

Addressing the gathering, CPI(M) Karnataka State Secretary K Prakash alleged that the Union government’s electricity privatisation policies and proposed amendments to the Electricity Act are designed to weaken the public power distribution system. “The entry of private companies into power distribution will push government-owned ESCOMs into severe financial distress. This privatisation policy will benefit only a handful of corporate houses while adversely affecting consumers, farmers, and electricity employees. The power sector must continue to be managed in the larger public interest,” he said. He gave a call to all the members and units of political parties, trade unions, peasants and other mass organisations to flood KERC with objections to the TPCL application. While KERC – a bureaucratic body without any accountability – is legally “free” to decide on the TPCL application, the state government can only object under a clause of “public interest”, he pointed out. But the state government has applied to the central government for borrowing an additional 0.5% of GSDP which is linked to electricity privatisation. Hence he called for a powerful people’s movement which can only put pressure on the state government to stop this privatisation bid. 

Mohammed Sameeulla, deputy general secretary of the All Karnataka Electricity Employees Federation and working president of All India Federation of Electricity Employees, sharply criticised the ongoing sell-off of public assets. He described in detail the experience of the states where electricity privatisation has been implemented. He demonstrated that the betterment in the electricity sector in terms of investment for technology modernisation, organisational efficiency, consumer responsiveness, quality of service, and price that is “expected” (as propagated by the government and the media) of privatisation are simply a “mirage”. He demonstrated this with examples from Odisha experience where TPCL itself has been licensed. TPCL recovered its entire initial investment in a few days by selling scrap and never invested significantly thereafter. Even the cost of repairs, reconstruction cost due to extensive damages caused by hurricane were borne by the Odisha government and various public sector electricity organisations. Personnel and equipment were supplied for free by these organisations, whereas TPCL did not spend anything.

Speakers warned that allowing private companies into power distribution would dismantle the cross-subsidy mechanism, leading to higher tariffs for farmers, poor households, domestic consumers, and small-scale industries. They expressed serious concern that popular welfare schemes such as free electricity for agricultural pump sets and the Gruha Jyothi scheme would come under threat.

The convention was presided over by CPI(M) State Secretariat member Meenakshi Sundaram. Prominent leaders including CPI’s B Amjad, CPI(ML)’s Lekha, SUCI’s Jnanamurthy, AAP’s Sitaram Gundappa, and KRS leader Amit participated. CPI(M) Bengaluru North leader Gowramma conducted the proceedings, while K S Lakshmi delivered the vote of thanks. Hundreds of representatives from various organisations and districts across the state participated.

The convention adopted a comprehensive 15-point resolution. It demanded the immediate withdrawal of all attempts to hand over Karnataka’s power distribution to private companies and the outright rejection of Tata Power’s licence application by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission. The resolution called for the withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and all other privatisation-oriented reforms. It emphasised strengthening the public distribution utilities — BESCOM, HESCOM, MESCOM, GESCOM, and CESCOM — and ensuring the continuation of free and subsidised electricity schemes for farmers and the Gruha Jyothi scheme.

The participants also resolved to prevent tariff hikes, protect cross-subsidy support for agriculture, domestic consumers, and small industries, and safeguard permanent jobs in the power sector while resisting the expansion of contract labour. They demanded mandatory consultation with elected representatives, trade unions, farmers’ organisations, and consumer groups before any major policy changes and called for increased public investment in the electricity sector instead of privatisation.

The convention concluded with a strong call for building a broad-based, united movement against the privatisation of the power sector and in defence of public ownership and affordable electricity for all sections of society.

In response, it is reported that lakhs of objections from various individuals, electricity unions and other organisations including from members and units of CPI(M), have been submitted to KERC before the deadline June 23. Several stakeholder organisations including electricity employees’ unions have conducted protest meetings, rallies, and public campaigns across Karnataka opposing TPCL's proposal. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Energy Minister K J George have publicly committed to oppose privatisation in a felicitation programme organised by Electricity Employees Unions on June 29. However, given the state government’s application for additional borrowing linked to electricity privatisation, only a powerful people’s movement can stop the TPCL bid.