Wednesday, January 4 2006 14:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government's decision to unbundle the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) and form six companies and handing over Kanti power station to NTPC has been 'denounced' by over 16,000 power men, who today (Jan 04, 2006) decided to go on a state-wide indefinite strike from tomorrow.

The decision to go on indefinite strike was taken at an emergency meeting of coordination committee of Bihar State Electricity Employees Union and State Electricity Engineers Association today, B L Yadav, its Convenor, told sources.

The decision to unbundle the BSEB which is being seen as a precursor to privatisation of the power sector in future was taken at a cabinet meeting late last evening, official sources said.

Power companies which are to come up very soon will be - Bihar State Electricity Company that will be the parent company, Bihar State Production and Transmission Company, Patna Electricity Supply Company, South Bihar Electricity Company, North Bihar Electricity Company and North East Bihar Electricity Company.

The six companies coming in place of BSEB will function as independent units on commercial lines, sources said.

The state government had recently signed an MoU with NTPC for renovation of two units of Kanti thermal power station based a Muzaffarpur.

The employees are protesting handing over Kanti station to NTPC and unbundling of the BSEB without discussing the issue 'threadbare' with them, Yadav said.

When contacted, state Energy minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav told sources he would discuss the issue with senior officials later in the day.