The government of Tamil Nadu has chalked out a vision plan for the power sector to attract around Rs 4.50 lakh crore. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa recently released the Vision 2023 document, which envisages new power generation capacity located within the state or elsewhere, and would account for a bulk of the investments at Rs [...]

The Ministry of Power may soon come out with competitive bidding guidelines for short-term procurement (less than one year) of electricity by distribution entities soon. This is to ensure better transparency in the process and also to bring down the overall power cost for the consumers. According to a senior Power Ministry official, “We have [...]

Even as opposing tariff renegotiation after the financial bids are opened, the Association of Power Producers (APP) has demanded clauses to offset changes in international laws, with regard to ultra mega power project contracts. The power producers’ group  want changes in international law to be part of the force majeure provisions — which excuse a [...]

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee-led Group of Ministers (GoM) on coal were set to decide the fate of eight coal blocks linked to power plants of major companies. The companies include Reliance Power, Adani Power, Aditya Birla Group and Essar Energy, among others. The 12-member panel was set up by the government last year to settle [...]

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is expected to decide on imposing an import duty of 19 per cent on power generation equipment for projects above 1,000 MW. While this may be a good news for domestic equipment manufacturers such as BHEL, L&T and Bharat Forge, the duty hike may not go down well [...]

The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) has decided a levelised tariff of Rs 3.057 per unit power to be procured from Essar Power Jharkhand Limited (EPJL). The State Electricity Board will purchase 450 MW power from EPJL. The state board had petitioned the commission to adopt tariff for long-term procurement of 450 MW base load [...]

Around five to six more power plants are expected to begin operations in Gujarat soon. State Energy minister Saurabh Patel said that more than 3,000 mw of conventional power generation capacity is likely to be commissioned in the coming few months. “The state’s power generation capacity will increase from current 14,500 mw to close to [...]

Just days after the PMO stepping in to play a direct role in sorting out the fuel woes faced by coal-fired power project developers, a meeting of empowered group of ministers (EGoM),is set to take place soon. It is expected that decisive actions would be taken by way of diverting gas supplies from “non-priority” sectors [...]

In a big relief, there is some good news from banks for the power sector, especially to companies which seek a loan recast. A number of state electricity boards (SEBs) or distribution companies (discoms) which had taken short-term loans from banks for liquidity support have found themselves in no shape to repay as committed. Currently, [...]

The moment the country opened gates for liberalization a couple of decades ago, started the growing demand for electricity, an issue which is yet to be addressed fully. Energy-intensive industries such as power, iron and steel, cement, fertiliser account for over 45 per cent of commercial energy use in India, to deliver 25 per cent [...]