R नई दिल्ली

NEW DELHI याचिका संख्या ./ Petition No. 417/MP/2024 / Coram:

कोरम श्री जिश्नु बरुआ , अध्यक्ष /Shri Jishnu Barua, Chairperson श्री रमेश बाबू वी ., सदस्य /Shri Ramesh Babu V., Member श्री हरीश ददु ानी , सदस्य /Shri Harish Dudani, Member श्री रववदं र ससहं ढिल्लों , सदस्य /Shri Ravinder Singh Dhillon, Member आदेश ढदनांक / Date of Order: 15^th January, 2026 IN THE MATTER OF Petition under Section 79 (1) (a) and 79 (1) (f) of The Electricity Act, 2003 Read with Regulation 65 of the CERC (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 2023 and Article 12 of Power Purchase Agreement Dated 24.08.2023 for approval of change in law and consequential determination of quantum and mechanism of compensation on account of change in law events.

AND IN THE MATTER OF:

M/s NTPC Limited NTPC Bhawan, Scope Complex Institutional Area, Lodhi Road New Delhi-110 003 ... Petitioner Versus Kerala State Electricity Board Limited Tariff Regulatory and Affairs Cell, Vydyuthi Bhavanam, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram-695004 ... Respondent Parties Present: Shri Venkatesh, Advocate, NTPC Shri Vineet Kumar, Advocate, NTPC Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, Advocate, NTPC Shri Prabhas Bajaj, Advocate, KSEB Shri Rithvik Mathur, Advocate, KSEB आदेश/ ORDER The Petitioner, M/s NTPC Ltd. (NTPC), has developed a 90 MW Anta Solar PV Project in the existing vacant land in the station premises of the ‘Anta Gas based Power Station’, Baran, in the State of Rajasthan. The Guidelines for Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects were issued by the Ministry of Power on 03.08.2017. Pursuant to these Guidelines, the Request for Selection (RfS) was issued by Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) on 18.09.2020. The Corrigendum to the RfS was issued on 06.10.2020, modifying certain clauses in the RfS and the PPA. NTPC submitted its bid on 20.10.2020. The non-financial bids of the tender were opened on 20.10.2020, and only two bidders submitted the bids, viz. NTPC for 90 MW and M/s Tata Power Company Ltd. (TPCL) for 200 MW. The evaluation committee reviewed the offers and documents on 04.11.2020 and recommended opening the financial bid on 12.11.2020 along with an e-Reverse auction on the same day. The final allotted quantum and the price are as follows:

i) NTPC - 90 MW @ Rs. 2.97/kWh; and ii) Tata Power Company Ltd. - 110 MW @ Rs. 2.97/kWh.

Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC), in its order dated 18.12.2020 in OP. No. 39 of 2020 adopted the tariff of Rs. 2.97/kWh for the procurement of power. KSEBL issued the Letter of Award (LoA) to NTPC on 06.01.2021 at a final tariff rate of Rs. 2.97 per kWh for the awarded capacity of 90 MW for a Solar PV Power Project. Subsequently, KSEBL filed a Petition bearing OP No. 39 of 2020 before KSERC seeking the adoption of a Tariff of Rs. 2.97/kWh for the procurement of 90 MW of Solar Power from NTPC. On 05.02.2021, KSEBL and NTPC signed the initialled PPA for the procurement of 90 MW of Solar power for the purpose of submitting the same before the KSERC for approval. On 08.02.2021, KSEBL filed OP No. 11 of 2021 before KSERC for approval of the initialled PPA. On 21.06.2021, KSERC approved the initialled PPA.

On 06.07.2021, NTPC requested KSEBL to indicate the date for signing of the PPA. During the pendency of OP No. 11 of 2021, on 12.11.2021, KSEB issued a letter to NTPC, requesting it to reduce the tariff from Rs. 2.97/kWh to Rs. 2.44/kWh in the light of lowering of tariff by another generator, which was also allowed subject to the condition that the rate change due to change in law, including BCD, shall be governed by Clause 5.7 of the TBCB Guidelines. On 21.06.2022, in response to the letter dated 12.11.2021 issued by KSEBL, NTPC proposed that KSEBL reduce the tariff to Rs. 2.77/kWh for the Project in good faith and in furtherance of the interest of the Project. However, while proposing the revised tariff, NTPC made it clear that any implication arising from any change in law ev