Jishnu Barua appoints as new chairperson of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission : Jishnu Barua has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). On February 27, 2023, Barua was appointed chairperson of the CERC. Barua was chief secretary of Assam from October 2020 to August 2022. Prior to this, he had been additional chief secretary to Assam looking after various departments of the state from August 2017 to October 2020.
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Following his retirement, Barua was appointed chairperson of Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. Barua has an M.Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies, a PG in History, and a Graduation in Philosophy. During his interaction with the new CERC chairperson, Singh commended the good work done by him during his stint as chairperson of the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd and said that the power system in the country has improved significantly in recent years.
About the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)
The CERC was established by the Indian government in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act of 1998. CERC is the central commission established by the Electricity Act of 2003, which replaced the ERC Act of 1998. The commission consists of a chairperson and four other members, including Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority, who is the ex-officio member of the commission.
Major functions of CERC under the Act are, inter-alia, to regulate the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the central government, to regulate the tariff of other generating companies having a composite scheme for generation and sale of electricity in more than one state, to regulate the inter-state transmission of electricity and to determine tariff for such transmission of electricity, etc. According to the Act, the CERC shall also advise the central government on the formulation of national electricity policy and tariff policy; the promotion of competition, efficiency, and economy in electricity industry activities; the promotion of investment in the electricity industry; and any other matter referred to the central commission by the government.
