AIPEF asks govt to put National Electricity Policy 2021 on hold

05 May 2021 CW Team

The All India Power Engineers’ Federation (AIPEF) has asked the Ministry of Power (MoP) to put on hold the draft of major amendments proposed to be carried out in the National Electricity Policy (NEP), 2021, citing Covid-19 concerns.

In a letter addressed to MoP, RK Singh of AIPEF demanded the draft amendment to be put on hold for a period of six months due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India.

According to AIPEF, the draft has been floated in public by MoP for getting comments from stakeholders. The federation told the media that the Ministry has asked states and industry bodies to submit their suggestions for framing the NEP 2021, within the next three weeks, but the most important stakeholders – the engineers and employees, have been left out.

The draft NEP 2021 has proposed more private participation in the power segment and removal of the monopoly of state-run power discoms. The preferred routes being proposed include—the franchisee system, transferring distribution responsibility to a private party, and separation of carriage (wire) and content (supply) business.

As we have reported earlier, MoP had set up an expert panel comprising prominent members of various industry bodies to prepare the draft NEP 2021.

From time to time, the central government, in consultation with States, reviews and revises the NEP and under the Electricity Act, 2003.

The government had notified the NEP in February 2005. The Working Group on Power for the 12th Plan had made a recommendation for an amendment in NEP in addition to Electricity Act 2003 and tariff policy.

Image Source

Also read: National Electricity Policy 2021: Govt panel to amend new policy

Also read: Power ministry asks regulators to revise tariffs by April 1 each year

Real Estate

03 Jun 2026

India Data Centre Capacity Surpasses 1.6 GW in 2025

India's data centre market has crossed 1.6 GW of live IT capacity across seven key markets in 2025, up from 296 MW in 2016, according to Knight Frank India's India Data Centre Market Update 2025. The sector added 371.5 MW of capacity during 2025, following 361.6 MW added in 2024, reflecting sustained growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud adoption, enterprise digitisation and data localisation requirements. The report notes that committed and early-stage development pipelines now exceed 8 GW, supported by investment commitments of more than USD 100 billion. AI-related colocation..

BigBloc Q4 Revenue Rises 34.6 Per Cent to Rs 869.3 Million

BigBloc Construction reported consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 869.3 million in Q4 FY26, marking a 34.6 per cent year-on-year increase from Rs 645.9 million in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA stood at Rs 70.6 million, reflecting stable performance despite continued pressure on the building materials sector. For FY26, the company posted revenue from operations of Rs 2.83 billion, up 26.2 per cent from Rs 2.25 billion in FY25. EBITDA for the year stood at Rs 229.3 million, with an EBITDA margin of 8.09 per cent. Commenting on the performance, Mohit Saboo, Director & CFO, ..

John Crane Retrofit Cuts Water Use at Copper Mine Pump

John Crane has retrofitted a mechanical seal on a large underflow thickener slurry pump at a major copper mining operation, reducing sealing water consumption by around 288,000 litres per day while improving maintenance efficiency on a critical asset.The retrofit replaced the pump's traditional stuffing box arrangement, which required shaft sleeve replacement every four months due to abrasive wear. These maintenance activities involved significant downtime, a 100-tonne crane and extensive manpower.John Crane developed a mechanical seal package that could be installed without modifying the exis..