Appeals before electricity regulatory authorities against a hike in tariffs by Adani Power’s plant in Mundra, Gujarat, that had been granted in December 2018, have reopened an issue that was presumed to have been settled by the Supreme Court.
Regulatory authorities have interpreted rules in ways that have resulted in mounting losses for public sector electricity distribution companies while users are paying higher tariffs. The Supreme Court granted Adani Power Rajasthan Limited rights to claim over ₹2,500 crore from three Rajasthan discoms by passing through tariff increases to electricity consumers, despite a 2017 judgment forbidding such compensation.
Two prominent infrastructure companies belonging to Adani Group and Tata Group had sought the assistance of electricity regulators to hike the rate at which they sold power to several state power utility and distribution companies. They claimed that compensatory tariffs to the tune of nearly ₹8,000 crore were due to them as they had to absorb an increase in the price of coal imported from Indonesia. But this was denied to them by the Supreme Court.
