IN THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FOR ELECTRICITY (Appellate Jurisdiction)

APPEAL No. 126 of 2022 Dated: 10^th February, 2025 Present: Hon’ble Mr. Sandesh Kumar Sharma, Technical Member Hon’ble Mr. Virender Bhat, Judicial Member In the matter of:

M/s Solaire Surya Urja Private Limited Through: Authorised Signatory Office No. 203, Pentagon P3, 2^nd Floor, Magarpatta City, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra – 411013 Email Id.: court.clerk@hsalegal.com … Appellant Versus

1. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission Through: The Secretary

3^rd & 4^th Floor, Chanderlok Building Janpath, New Delhi – 110001 Email Id.: secy.cercind@gov.in

2. NTPC Limited Through: General Manager (Commercial)

Core-7, Scope Complex, 7, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003 Email Id.: cmd@ntpc.co.in

3. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited Through: Chief Operating Officer NTPC Bhawan, Core – 7, Scope Complex

7, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003 Email Id.: contact_nvvn@ntpc.co.in

4. Rajasthan Solar Park Development Company Limited Through: Chairman & Managing Director E-166, Yudhishtir Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur, Rajasthan – 302001 Email Id.: gmec.rrecl@rajasthan.gov.in

5. Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited Through: Chairman & Managing Director Vidyut Bhawan, Janpath, Jaipur, Rajasthan – 302005 Email Id.: se.mis@rvpn.co.in … Respondent (s)

Counsel on record for the : Basava P. Patil Ld. Sr. Adv.

Appellant(s) Hemant Sahai Shryeshth Ramesh Sharma Nitish Gupta Molshree Bhatnagar Shefali Tripathi Nishant Talwar Nehul Sharma Saurobroto Dutta Utkarsh Singh Avdesh Mandloi Aditya Jain Neel Kandan Rahate for App.

1 Counsel on record for the : Shri Venkatesh Respondent(s) Ashutosh Kumar Srivastava Bharath Gangadharan Jayant Bajaj Nihal Bhardwaj Siddharth Nigotia Kartikay Trivedi Shivam Kumar Suhael Buttan Siddharth Joshi Abhishek Nangia Simran Saluja Vineet Kumar Punyam Bhutani V.M. Kannan Jatin Ghuliani Anant Singh Mohit Mansharamani Rishabh Sehgal for Res. 2 Dr. Shivendra Singh Rathore Arun Tanwar Prerna Singh for Res. 4 Preetika Dwivedi for Res. 5

J U D G M E N T

PER HON’BLE MR. VIRENDER BHAT, JUDICIAL MEMBER

1. The Appellant M/s. Solaire Surya Urja Private Limited, a solar power developer in the State of Rajasthan, is aggrieved by the Order dated 4^th August, 2021 passed by 1^st Respondent – Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as “Commission”) in Petition No. 203/MP/2019.

2. The Appellant had approached the Commission by way of the said petition seeking inter alia, extension of Scheduled Commercial Operation Date (SCOD) in respect of its two solar power generating projects with capacity of 70 MW each. The extension of SCOD was sought by the Appellant on account of the reasons stated to be not attributable to it i.e. non-availability of adequate evacuation transmission system which was the responsibility of 5^th Respondent – Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (in short “RRVPNL”). 3. The Commission, vide the impugned order dated 4^th August, 2021 dismissed the petition thereby rejecting the prayers of the Appellant. The Commission also held the 2^nd Respondent – NTPC Limited entitled to recover liquidated damages from the appellant on account of delay in supply of power by Appellant to NTPC by the Scheduled Commercial Operation Date in terms of the PPA.

4. Fact in brief, giving rise to the instant appeal are as under :-

(i) In March 2015, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (in short “MNRE”) issued “Guidelines for selection of 3000 MW Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects under Batch-II” which are hereinafter referred to as “NSM Guidelines”. These guidelines provide for bundling of solar power along with cheaper unallocated quota of thermal power generated at NTPC owned and controlled coal-based stations across the country and selling the same to the distribution agencies. Accordingly, the guidelines contemplated that NTPC would enter into power purchase agreement with solar power developers with a commitment to purchase po