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.”