CENTRAL ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION NEW DELHI Petition No. 305/MP/2015 Coram:

Shri Jishnu Barua, Chairperson Shri Ramesh Babu V., Member Shri Harish Dudani, Member Shri Ravinder Singh Dhillon, Member Date of Order: 25th March, 2026 In the matter of Petition under Section 79 of the Electricity Act, 2003 read with the provisions of the Power Supply Agreement dated 5.1.2011 and Power Purchase Agreement dated 25.3.2011 for directions to make Energy Charges as pass-through based on the actual fuel cost incurred by the Petitioner.

And In the Matter of:

Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Limited, 9B, 9^th Floor, Hansalaya Building

15, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110 001 …... Petitioner VERSUS

1. West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Vidyut Bhawan (7^th Floor), DJ-Block, Sector-II, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091, West Bengal

2. PTC India Limited, 2^nd Floor, NBCC Tower, 15 Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi -110066

3. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited, NPKRR Maligai, 6^th Floor, Eastern Wing, 144, Anna Salai, Chennai- 600002,Tamil Nadu

4. Jharkhand State Electricity Board, Presently known as Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, HEC Building, Dhurwa, Ranchi- 834004. …Respondents

ORDER

This order is passed in compliance with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in judgment dated 27.02.2026 in Civil Appeal Nos. 2584-2585 of 2026 titled West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. v. Adhunik Power & Natural Resources Ltd. & Ors.), whereby the Commission has been directed to modify its consequential order dated 11.02.2026, passed in terms of the judgment of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (“the APTEL”) dated 04.09.2025 in Appeal Nos. 143/2020 & 66/2022, in terms of directions contained therein.

Background

2. The Petitioner, Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Limited (in short, “APNRL”), had filed this Petition under Section 79 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”) read with Article 10 of the Power Sale Agreement (“PSA”) dated 05.01.2011 executed between Respondent No. 2 and Respondent No. 1, and the Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) dated 25.03.2011 entered into with Respondent No. 2, seeking directions to the Respondents to make energy charges as pass through based on the actual fuel cost incurred by the Petitioner on account of Change in Law events arising from (i) shortfall in supply of coal under tapering linkage granted pending operationalisation of Ganeshpur captive coal block, and (ii) cancellation of Ganeshpur captive coal block allocation.

3. The Commission, vide order dated 29.01.2020 partially allowed the Petition, inter alia, holding that (i) Ganeshpur captive coal block was the identified fuel source contemplated under the PSA/PPA, as evidenced by the Minutes of Meeting dated 03.01.2011, Article 2.5 of the PPA/PSA, and contemporaneous correspondence between the parties (including WBSEDCL’s letter dated 30.04.2012 seeking status of coal extraction); (ii) cancellation of allocation of Ganeshpur captive coal block in terms of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Judgment in Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secy. & Ors. did not constitute a Change in Law event under Article 10.1.1(b), (c) or (d) of the PSA/PPA, (iii) the enactment of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 prescribing the auction route for allocation of coal block constitutes Change in Law if it affected the input cost of APNRL but since it did not become successfully in auction process, it cannot take benefit of Article 10.1.1(f) of the PSA/PPA, and (iii) the Petitioner shall be entitled to compensation to the extent of shortfall in tapering linkage granted pending operationalisation of Ganeshpur captive coal block and accordingly, shall approach the Commission through a fresh Petition giving details of tapering linkage granted to it, the reason for the delay and development and operationalisation of captive coal block, and the coal requirement met through e-auction/ imported coa