Haryana employees went on a 3-day strike against the grant of license to a private discom

Employees of Haryana power on Tuesday protested against the decision to grant license to a private firm. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

The Joint Front of Haryana Electricity Employees and Engineers has called a three-day statewide strike from Thursday to protest the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (HERC) decision to grant a 25-year parallel electricity distribution license to a private company in Gurugram and Nuhu. Agricultural organizations as well as the opposition condemned the move as “anti-people”.

Haryana Power Minister Anil Vij said the decision was taken by the autonomous body despite the state government’s opposition to privatisation. He said it would be challenged at the Electricity Appellate Tribunal.

In its October 19 order, HERC granted Eleven Power Private Limited a license under Section 14 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Now more than 8.3 lakh power consumers in Gurugram and Nuh, including households, farms, shops, industrial units and offices, can choose between the two discoms.

In a statement, the United Front said the decision would “undermine” the state-owned Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam by handing over high-income areas to a private player. She said the agitation was aimed at protecting the interests of power workers, farmers and consumers. She announced that the next phase of the agitation and future course of action would be announced on October 24.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Haryana, has applied for the license to be revoked. BKU state president Rattan Mann said farmers and poor households in Nuh who benefited from subsidized electricity could be hit hard as the government has not given any written assurance that the subsidies will continue.

“It will increase costs”

He also claimed that higher electricity tariffs could increase industrial and business costs in Gurugram and Manesar. He announced a mahapanchayat of farmers, laborers and traders in Nuh in the next 15 days.

Indian National Lok Dal Patron Sampat Singh condemned the decision as “a serious and irreversible attack on Haryana’s public sector, the interests of farmers, rural consumers and the poor and the very principle that basic services must serve the people before profit”.

“For the first time in Haryana, two discoms have been allowed to run in the same area. This has opened the door to a dangerous experiment as electricity is a basic public service,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the petition, Eleven Power has committed to supply electricity on a non-discriminatory basis to all categories of consumers and to supply electricity on demand under Section 43 of the Act, releasing new connections within the time limits specified in the Commission’s Electricity Supply Code. The network will be built in phases over five years across all five license area divisions, with Nuh included from the first phase, the company said.

Electricity demand in Nuh and Gurugram, including Manesar and Sohna, is growing rapidly. Projections in Eleven Power’s petition, based on growth rates approved by the commission, show annual electricity sales in the license area growing from about 12,220 million units in FY 2024-25 to about 18,224 million units by FY 2030-31.

Many commercial businesses, industrial units and high-rise residential buildings in the area continue to depend on diesel generators during outages.

Across Haryana, nearly 1.3 million requests for new connections and load increases are pending as of October 2025, involving more than 2,400 MW of load.

Published – 21 Oct 2026 0:59 IST