State discoms & CEA asked to comment on National Electricity Policy

State discoms and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) have been asked to comment on the proposed National Electricity Policy (NEP) by the union power ministry. The NEP aims to develop a financially viable and sustainable power sector, advancing energy security and offering reliable power around-the-clock at an affordable price. The new policy aims to achieve four goals: decarbonisation and energy transition, resilient and flexible grid; financial viability; and developing a customer-centric strategy. To prepare and approve the NEP, the government established an Expert Committee in April 2021, which was headed by Gireesh Pradhan, a former CERC chair. In October 2021, the panel had delivered the NEP draft. Before finalising the draft of the new policy, the committee had undertaken extensive discussions with a variety of stakeholders, including CPSUs, financial institutions, industry groups, state governments, TERI, and BEE. A new electricity policy had also been advocated by the Seventeenth Loksabha's Standing Committee on Energy for 2021-2022. In a letter to the discoms, the ministry wrote, “Accordingly, the draft NEP has been finalised for circulating it to seek views/comments from all stakeholders, especially from CEA and states in accordance with the provision of the Electricity Act.”