The power sector in India is witnessing mounting tension as thousands of electricity employees and engineers took to the streets on November 27, 2025, to protest the proposed All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF)-backed nationwide strike against the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025.

🔎 What is the Bill — and Why It’s Controversial

The draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 aims to overhaul the existing framework under the Electricity Act 2003, introducing sweeping changes intended to “modernise” power distribution, introduce competition, and allow multiple distribution companies to operate within the same geographic region.

Key proposed changes:

  • Allowing multiple power distribution companies (public or private) to serve consumers in a region, dismantling the traditional single-discom monopoly.

  • Abolishing cross-subsidies — i.e. the subsidised tariffs for farmers, low-income households, and other vulnerable consumers — and replacing them with a regime of direct subsidies or cost-reflective tariffs.

  • Restructuring regulatory powers, which critics argue could weaken state-level control and oversight of electricity distribution.

While the government argues that these reforms are necessary to bring efficiency, reliability, and financial sustainability to the power distribution sector, critics — including power-sector unions and farmer organisations — warn that the Bill would lead to widespread privatisation, higher tariffs, and loss of public-sector oversight.

📢 Grounds for the Protest: Workers and Common Consumers Alike

The nationwide protests have been spearheaded by power sector employees and engineers under bodies like AIPEF and the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE). They claim the Bill was introduced without adequate consultations, undermining both employee rights and public interest.

Major concerns being raised:

  • Privatisation may lead to cherry-picking of profitable areas by private discoms — leaving remote, rural or low-income regions underserved.

  • Removal of cross-subsidies could result in steep electricity tariff hikes for farmers and ordinary households, making power unaffordable for many.

  • Threat to employment — public-sector employees fear loss of job security and likely layoffs if public utilities are dismantled or privatised.

  • Potential erosion of state-level regulatory powers and democratic oversight of electricity distribution and pricing.

Unions demand that the Bill be either withdrawn or sent to a parliamentary standing committee for broader stakeholder consultations, including employees, farmers, and common consumers.

🏛 Broader Implications: Why This Matters for India

Electricity is not just another commodity in India — it’s a basic necessity, especially for millions in rural and agrarian communities who rely on subsidised power for irrigation, livelihood, and daily living. The proposed Bill, by altering subsidy mechanisms and introducing privatisation, threatens to fundamentally change how power is accessed and distributed across socio-economic strata.

Moreover, the shift from a single public discom model to a competitive multi-discom environment may lead to fragmentation, unequal service levels, and reduced accountability — all of which have serious ramifications for equity, affordability, and sustainable development.

For public-sector employees, the Bill represents not just a change in how power is supplied, but a potential restructuring of the entire sector — including job losses, loss of rights, and weakening of state control.

📅 What’s Next: The Road Ahead

  • Unions have called for further demonstrations and a nationwide stir, with planned rallies and public protests if the Bill moves forward without proper consultations.

  • Farmer organisations and consumer bodies are increasingly joining the movement — turning the issue from a labour protest into a broader public-interest debate.

  • Over the coming weeks and months, pressure may build for revisions to the Bill, especially on provisions related to subsidies, licensing, and stakeholder consultations.

🔖 Conclusion: A Critical Juncture for India’s Power Future

The protests against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025 reflect deep — and growing — concerns about the future of electricity distribution in India. As calls for privatisation grow louder, so do fears of higher costs, loss of subsidies, degraded public-sector utilities, and widened inequality.

At this critical juncture, decisions made in Parliament will shape not only the power sector but also how accessible and equitable electricity remains for millions of Indians. For a basic necessity like power, reforms must balance financial sustainability with social equity — and meaningful stakeholder consultation must be the foundation.

Stay tuned as we follow developments: whether the Bill is revised, withdrawn or pushed through — the next few weeks could define India’s electricity landscape for decades to come.