NEW DELHI: Adani Power has filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against three Rajasthan government discoms (power distribution companies) for failing to comply with the apex court’s order to pay the company Rs 6,738 crore in compensatory tariff and interest for power supplied since 2013.
The amount claimed by Adani Power includes Rs 1,469 crore interest cost and Rs 2,317crore LPS (legal conservatorship) charges.
The Adani Power petition says the dues have been piling up due to the discoms’ continued failure to pay. This is crippling the company’s ability to operate and service debt.
The apex court had in 2020 upheld the electricity appellate body’s verdict that entitled Adani Power to get compensatory tariff to reco- ver higher fuel costs for generating power.
In March 2021, the apex court rejected review petitions filed by the discoms, reaffirming the applicability of compensatory tariff under ‘change in law’ provision in their power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Adani Power and the Rajasthan discoms have been in a dispute on the applicability of the provision in their PPA signed in 2010 for supplying power from the coal-fired Kawai thermal plant in the state. The Rajasthan discoms had opposed Adani Power’s compensatory tariff claim, saying the additional payment will have to be recovered from consumers by raising tariffs, which will affect public interest.
Under the change in law clause, if fuel pricesrise due to changes in legal regime or imposition of any levy, discoms are liable to pay additional tariff to cover the higher cost for generators.
