When, subsidies and in turn, fiscal deficit gets out of control, the eyes of the whole nation are set on it and all institutions, experts and financial wizards frantically look for steps to set things right. But, when it comes to dealing with factors that cause hike in subsidies/deficit, everyone turns a nelson eye; instead of taking corrective measures, they abet actions to perpetuate the malady. The case of ultra mega power projects [UMPP] vividly illustrates this. Tata Power Ltd [TPL] and Adani Power Ltd [APL] had bagged such projects 4000 MW and 4620 MW respectively under tariff-based competitive bidding [TBCB] to supply power at fixed tariff all through project’s operational life. The tariff in case of Tata was Rs...
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Category: Power purchase agreements (PPAs)
UDAY – no panacea for SEBs woes
One of the major accomplishments of Modi – government during its two years stint has been in alleviating the constraints facing power generation companies/entities. It has done so by increasing production of coal by Coal India Limited [CIL] and filling all voids in the evacuation, transportation and distribution infrastructure to reach supplies to generating stations. It has also helped gas based power plants by arranging supplies of gas at lower rates enabled by pooling of imported LNG [liquefied natural gas] with cheaper domestic gas. The cost of LNG itself has been brought down drastically by re-working an existing long-term 25 year contract with RasGas [Qatar] to align the formula with its low current international price [courtesy, low crude price]. It...
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It’s all just power play
Electricity boards and consumers are being systematically short-circuited by the robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul policy Tata Power Ltd bagged a 4000 MW ultra mega power project based on imported coal in Mundra, Gujarat, under tariff-based competitive bidding to supply power at fixed tariff of Rs. 2.26 per unit all through the project’s operational life. Likewise, Adani Power (APL) bagged a UMPP to supply to Gujarat and Haryana at Rs. 2.35/Rs. 2.94 a unit. In April 2013, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) allowed compensatory tariff(CT) of Rs. 0.524 per unit to TPL for all its buyers. APL was allowed CT at Rs. 0.851 per unit and Rs. 0.364 per unit for supplies to Gujarat and Haryana, respectively. The CT was meant to neutralise...
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Power conundrum – robbing Peter to pay Paul
In April, 2013, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in its interim order, allowed a ‘compensatory tariff’[CT] of Rs 0.524 per unit to Tata Power Ltd (TPL) 4000 MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) based on imported coal in Mundra, [Gujarat] for all its buyers. Likewise, for Adani Power, UMPP [4620 MW] it allowed CT of Rs 0.851 per unit and Rs 0.364 per unit for supplies to utilities in Gujarat and Haryana respectively. The CT was meant to neutralize increase in price of imported coal consequent to decision of Indonesian Government in September 2011, imposing a minimum ‘benchmark’ price below which coal cannot be exported. Not quite satisfied with the quantum of relief given by CERC, the Adani/Tata petitioned the...
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DISBAND THE CULT OF FREELOADERS
To fix the crumbling power generation and distribution systems, the Modi regime has to crack down on the political class that promises free or cheap electricity. All other steps, such as amending the Electricity Act, are just cosmetic Inaugurating the first Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo (RE-Invest), Prime Minister Narendra Modi wondered how political parties could promise to supply electricity at reduced rates when their States are dependent on electricity supply from outside. The remark was targeted at the Aam Aadmi Party which, in its election manifesto, had promised to cut electricity bills by half, even as Delhi gets nearly 70 per cent of its power from other States. In 2015-2016, Delhi’s total power requirement is expected to...
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India’s power sector on the ‘brink’
Power supply to industries, businesses, agriculture, households etc is akin to blood circulation in the body. Just as stoppage of blood supply to any body-part renders it dysfunctional, disruption in power supply has same effect on economic activity. Minister for power and non-conventional energy, Piyush Goyal had precisely this at the back of his mind when he promised that Modi government will ensure un-interrupted power supply 24 hrs a day through out the year to every household and industry. To achieve this goal in an environment friendly manner, government has declared its intent to set up in next 5 years 100,000 mw each of power generation capacity based on ‘solar’ and ‘wind’. This coincides with Modi’s visit to USA where...
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Why bail out private power producers?
In his address at the CII AGM, Rahul Gandhi exhorted the powers-that-be to listen to the voice of a billion people. Clearly, he meant that that the ruling dispensation had thus far not listened seriously enough. Even before his exhortation could die down, the establishment has come out with a decision that ignores people’s concerns and can have the effect of further impoverishing them. FLOODGATES OPENED The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has allowed a ‘compensatory tariff’ for Adani Power Ltd’s (APL) imported-coal-based power project in Mundra, Gujarat. This has been done to neutralise the increase in price of imported coal following the decision of the Indonesian Government in September 2010 to impose a minimum ‘benchmark’ price below which coal...
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