Electricity Bill brought in to sell off power sector to Adani group: Vijitha

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Parliament, June 06 (Daily Mirror)- The government is trying to sell off the country's power sector to India's Adani group by creating a private sector monopoly over the electricity sector through the Sri Lanka Electricity Bill, National People’s Power (NPP) MP Vijitha Herath said today.

Speaking during the debate on the Electricity Bill, he said Clauses 20.6 and 30.4 of the Bill clearly show that the motive behind the Bill is to create a private sector monopoly over the electricity sector.

He said while criticizing the state monopoly in the power sector, the government is now trying to create a private sector monopoly.

The MP said the government is planning to approve Adani's proposals as unsolicited proposals through the Cabinet and obtain the legal framework for the proposals by enacting the Electricity Bill.

He said it is a serious matter to hand over the power sector monopoly to the private sector, claiming that it poses a threat to country's national security and sovereignty.

He said there was no issue in privatizing power generation and added that transmission and distribution should be in tact with the government.