IN THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FOR ELECTRICITY (Appellate Jurisdiction)

APPEAL No. 318 of 2019 Dated : 8^th April, 2025 Present: Hon’ble Mr. Sandesh Kumar Sharma, Technical Member Hon’ble Mr. Virender Bhat, Judicial Member In the matter of:

NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company Ltd. NTPC Bhawan Core-7, Scope Complex 7, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road New Delhi-110 003 … Appellant VERSUS

1. A.P. Transmission Corporation Limited Through its Managing Director, Vidyut Soudha, Khairatabad, Hyderabad-500082

2. A.P. Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, P&T Colony, Seethammadhara, Vishakapatnam-503013

3. A.P. Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, Beside Srinivassakalyana Mandapam, Tiruchanur Road, Kesavayana Gunta, Tirupati- 517501

4. Transmission Corporation of Telangana Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, Vidyut Soudha Khairatabad, Hyderabad - 500 082

5. Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd Through its Managing Director, Mint Compound, Corporate Office Hyderabad – 500 063.

6. Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Ltd Through its Managing Director, H. No. 2-5-31/2, Vidyut Bhavan, Nakkalagutta, Hanamkonda, Warangal – 506 001

7. Power Company of Karnataka Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, KPTCL complex, Kaveri Bhawan, Bengaluru- 560009

8. Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (BESCOM)

Through its Managing Director, Krishna Rajendra circle, Bangalore- 506001

9. Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (MESCOM)

Through its Managing Director, MESCOM Bhavana, Corporate Office Bejai Kevai Cross Road Mangalore-575004

10. Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (CESC)

Through its Managing Director, Corporate Office, No 29, GROUND Floor, Kaveri Grameena Bank Road Vijayanagar 2nd Stage, Mysore – 570017

11. Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (GESCOM Through its Managing Director, Main Road, Gulbarga- 585102

12. Hubli Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (HESCOM)

Through its Managing Director, Navanagar, PB Road, Hubli- 580025

13. Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, Vaidyuthi bhavanam, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram- 695004

14. Tamil Nadu generation & Distribution Corporation Ltd.

Through its Managing Director, NPKRR Maaligai, 144, Anna Salai, Chennai- 600002

15. Electricity department Through its Secretary Govt. of Puducherry, 137, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Salai, Puducherry- 605001

16. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission Through its Secretary, 3rd& 4th Floor, Chanderlok Building, 36, Janpath, New Delhi- 110001 … Respondents Counsel for the Appellant(s) : Anand K. Ganesan Amal Nair Swapna Seshadri for App.

Counsel for the Respondent(s) : Anusha Nagarajan for Res. 14

J U D G M E N T

PER HON’BLE MR. VIRENDER BHAT, JUDICIAL MEMBER

1. The short issue which arises for consideration in this appeal is whether the Central Commission (Respondent No. 16 herein) ought to have used its power to relax available under Regulation 54 of CERC (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) Regulation 2014 (in short “Tariff Regulations, 2014”) to relax the figure of Normative Annual Plant Availability Factor (NAPAF) from 85% to 83% as provided in Regulation 36(A) (a) of these Regulations for the Appellant for the period 1^st April, 2017 to 31^st March, 2019.

2. The Appellant, NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company Limited (in short “NTECL”) is a joint venture company of NTPC Limited, a Govt. of India undertaking and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company Ltd. (TANGEDCO), the Respondent No. 14 here.

3. The brief factual background in which the instant appeal has come up before this Tribunal is encapsulated herein below.

4. On 23^rd March, 2007 a Letter of Assurance (LOA) was issued in favour of the Appellant formally allocating annual supply of 46.20 lakh metric tonnes of coal for its thermal power generation station at Vallur with the total capacity of 1500 MW from its three units. The said coal based generating station was established primarily based on domestic coal linkage allocate