- The single judge bench of Justice M Ranga Rao directed the state to call for fresh tenders and cancel the power purchase agreements
- Tata Power Renewable Energy had moved the high court challenging the tenders called for setting up the solar power plants to meet the agriculture needs of the state
The AP high court has passed orders cancelling the tenders called by the Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Ltd (APGECL) in November last year to establish a 6,400 megawatt solar power plant. The single judge bench of Justice M Ranga Rao directed the state to call for fresh tenders and cancel the power purchase agreements.
Tata Power Renewable Energy had moved the high court challenging the tenders called for setting up the solar power plants to meet the agriculture needs of the state. It had submitted that the state government didn’t follow the provisions in the Electricity Act 2003 in preparing the request for selection (RFS) and draft of power purchase agreement (PPA).
Against section 63 of Electricity Act 2003
Advocates D Prakash Reddy and Kilaru Nitin Krishna, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the state government removed the enquiry rights of Electricity Regulatory Commission to verify the RFS and PPA. It will make the state government resolve the disputes that arose with the power generation companies, they submitted, adding that this was against section 63 of Electricity Act 2003. They also submitted to the court that the power purchase agreement was made violating the guidelines issued by the Union energy ministry in bidding of PPAs and sought directions from the court to cancel the tenders and call for fresh tenders and PPA.
Advocate general S Sriram, appearing for the government, argued that the guidelines were framed considering the benefits of farmers. He submitted that it is not correct to challenge the tender process once it is completed.
