Tata Power moves Aptel against award of ₹7k-cr project to Adani firm

New Delhi: Tata Power has moved the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel) against the award of a ₹7,000-crore high-voltage transmission line to Adani Electricity Mumbai Infra (AEMIL) by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) without bidding.

Tata Power has contested that the large project to build a 1,000-mw high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Kudus and Aarey should have been awarded through a transparent bidding route.

MERC allotted the project to AEMIL, a 100% special purpose vehicle of Adani Electricity Mumbai, under regulated tariff mode as it had taken steps towards land acquisition for development of the project. AEMIL has been set up for development of the transmission system.


Aptel has reserved the judgment, which is being awaited by the industry to set a benchmark for cases where transmission contract awards have been handed over without bidding.

Tata Power and Adani Power did not respond to ET's queries till press time Wednesday.

Many private transmission companies are irked over award of transmission contracts by states and the Centre without auctions mandated under law.

ET had on January 29 reported that the private companies are peeved at the Centre's move to award a ₹18,500-crore electricity transmission contract from Leh to Haryana to state-run Power Grid Corp without bidding.

Bihar and Rajasthan have invoked special rights under the Electricity Act to allot transmission projects through nomination route, while the National Tariff Policy of 2006 mandates that the inter-state power transmission systems must be awarded only through tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB).

MERC in March last year approved a transmission licence application filed by Adani Electricity Mumbai for 25 years without inviting bids under TBCB, saying the company is working on the scheme.

Tata Power has contested that MERC ignored the TBCB route that promotes transparency and enhances the competition in the market, resulting in best tariff and infrastructure.