The court upheld the transparent bidding process under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, confirming the adoption of transmission charges of Rs. 661.52 million for the project.

Headnote:(A) Electricity Act, 2003 - Section 63 - Petition for adoption of transmission charges for Inter-State Transmission System for Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla-III PS - The bidding process was conducted transparently as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power, and the successful bidder, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, was selected with the lowest transmission charges of Rs. 661.52 million. (Paras 5, 6, 28)

(B) Competitive Bidding - The selection of the successful bidder and the discovery of transmission charges were carried out in accordance with the Tariff based Competitive Bidding Guidelines, ensuring compliance with the prescribed procedures and transparency. (Paras 6, 27)

Facts of the case:
The Petitioner filed a petition under Section 63 of the Electricity Act to adopt transmission charges for a project discovered through competitive bidding. The bidding process was completed with two bidders, leading to the selection of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.

Findings of Court:
The bidding process adhered to the guidelines, ensuring transparency and compliance with regulations. The selected transmission charges were approved and adopted.

Issues: The main issues involved the adherence to guidelines and the transparency of the bidding process.

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the bidding process followed the prescribed guidelines, certifying the transparency and validity of the selected charges.

Result: The petition was approved, and the transmission charges were adopted.

ORDER

The Petitioner, Bhadla-III Power Transmission Limited (hereinafter referred to as “the Petitioner”), has filed the present Petition under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) to establish the Inter-State Transmission System for the " Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla- III PS as Part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III Scheme (20 GW) " on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer basis. The Petitioner has made the following prayers:

“(a) Adoption of Transmission Charges for Inter-State Transmission System for “Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla-III PS as Part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III Scheme (20 GW)” discovered through competitive bidding process.

(b) Allow the sharing and recovery of Transmission Charges for Inter-State Transmission System for “Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla-III PS as Part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III Scheme (20 GW)” as per Sharing of Inter-state Transmission Charges and Losses CERC Regulations 2020 and any other amendment thereon issued from time to time by CERC. (c) Pass such other order / orders, as may be deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

2. On receipt of the present Petition, the Bid Process Coordinator (hereinafter referred to as ‘the BPC’), REC Power Development & Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL) (hereinafter referred to as ‘RECPDCL’) vide letter dated 18.10.2024, was directed to submit the relevant documents regarding the complete process of the competitive bidding. The necessary details have been filed by the BPC vide affidavit dated 4.11.2024.

Hearing dated 12.11.2024

3. During the course of the hearing on 12.11.2024, the representative of the Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner has already impleaded the beneficiaries as parties to the Petition and has also served a copy of the Petition on them. However, no response has been received from them. The representative of the Petitioner further prayed to adopt the transmission tariff. After hearing the representative of the Petitioner, the order in the instant Petition was reserved.

4. Vide Record of Proceedings for the hearing dated 12.11.2024, the Respondent Beneficiaries were directed to file their replies/comments on the Petition, if any.

However, no response has been received from them.

5. We have considered the submissions of the Petitioner and BPC and perused the documents available on record. Section 63 of the Act provides as under:

“Section 63: Determination of tariff by bidding process: Notwithstanding anything contained in section 62, the Appropriate Commission shall adopt the tariff if such tariff has been determined through transparent process of bidding in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government.”

6. The Government of India, Ministry of Power has notified the “ Tariff based Competitive-bidding Guidelines for Transmission Service ” and “ Guidelines for Encouraging Competition in Development of Transmission Projects ” (hereinafter referred to as “the Guidelines‟) under Section 63 of the Act vide Resolution No. 15/1/2017-Trans dated 10.8.2021 as amended from time to time. The salient features of the Guidelines are as under: (a) The Guidelines are applicable for the procurement of transmission services for transmission of electricity through tariff based competitive bidding for selection of the Transmission Service Provider (TSP) for new transmission system on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer basis.

(b) For procurement of the transmission services required for any inter-State transmission Project, the Central Government shall notify the CTUIL or any Central Government Organization/ Central Public Sector Undertaking or its wholly owned subsidiary (Special Purpose Vehicle) to be the Bid Process Coordinator (BPC) who would be responsible for the coordinating the bid process.

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