New Delhi Feb 8 :     The Union power ministry plans to bring in a draft Bill to enact a consolidated statute encompassing the Indian Electricity Act 1910 and Electricity Supply Act 1948 to make metering mandatory and also to remove the anomalies in these Acts. Power minister P. Rangarajan Kumaramangalam stated today that the draft Bill will be brought out soon. 'National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) will circulate the draft paper at the state power ministers' conference to be held on February 26. The draft paper will highlight the need for a consolidated Act, which is essential for reforms in the power sector.' A consolidated statute, which does away with the anomalies of the existing ones, is also important for the privatisation of state electricity boards (SEBs). 'The privatisation of the power sector will see new issues cropping up, which cannot be resolved by the existing Acts. Besides, the existing laws overlap each other, which needs to be sorted out,' said Kumaramangalam. The consolidated Act would also enable state governments take strict action against those institutions which fail to install meters. Kumaramangalam asserted that each unit of power distributed and consumed has to be accounted for. 'Many posh colonies in India, particularly those in Delhi, do not have meters though they consume the maximum amounts of power. While the popular belief is that slums are responsible for the large thefts, in reality the slums and unauthorised colonies consume insignificant units of power,' Kumaramangalam said .