Consumers in Gurugram and Nuh will soon be able to choose between two power distribution companies after the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission granted Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a 25-year licence to supply electricity alongside the existing utility in the two districts.
The approval, issued on October 19 under Section 14 of the Electricity Act, 2003, allows the new distributor to serve domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial consumers. The existing power distribution company will continue to be available to consumers after Eleven Power commissions its network in the areas covered by its first phase.
The decision marks Haryana’s first parallel distribution licence and is among the few such licences granted in India, according to the report. Unlike a conventional change in utility ownership or a replacement of an existing distributor, the approval creates a framework in which two distribution companies can operate in the same districts and consumers can select their supplier once the new network is ready.
The licence does not mean that consumers can switch immediately. Eleven Power must first commission its distribution network in the relevant areas. The Haryana regulator has directed the company to submit a detailed execution plan for its first phase within 60 days of the order.
The company must also submit a procedure for consumers who want to change suppliers. That process will determine how switching requests are made and implemented once the alternative network becomes operational. The supplied report does not specify the areas to be covered in the first phase, the proposed commissioning date, tariffs, or the infrastructure investment planned by Eleven Power.
For consumers, the immediate change is therefore regulatory rather than operational. Households, farms, businesses and industrial users in Gurugram and Nuh will have an additional distribution option in principle, but access to that choice will depend on the new company’s network rollout and the switching framework approved through the regulatory process.
The decision also places execution at the centre of the next stage. Eleven Power will have to set out how it intends to build and operate its distribution system, while the regulator will have to examine the proposed process for transferring consumers between suppliers. The two requirements are due within 60 days of the October 19 order.
The approval brings competition into a part of the electricity system that is normally experienced by consumers through a single local distribution network. Its practical impact will become clearer only after the first-phase plan, network commissioning schedule and consumer-switching procedure are submitted and acted upon. The next formal milestone is Eleven Power’s submission of these documents to the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission within the prescribed 60-day period.
