New Delhi Bajaj Hindusthan’s R12,000-crore Lalitpur thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh seems to be in trouble, with the coal ministry making it clear that it is not in a position to commit coal supply to the project under the power ministry’s 12th Plan capacity addition programme.

The Shishir Bajaj-led Bajaj Group, a sugar-to-hair oil conglomerate, recently forayed into commercial power generation through its subsidiary Bajaj Hindusthan. The subsidiary is banking on timely completion of the Lalitpur power project to have 5,000 MW operational capacity in place by 2015. Its plan could go haywire, though, if the company fails to secure fuel linkage for the project on time.

New Delhi The government has dropped plans to involve senior government officials and functionaries to appraise electricity regulatory commissions' performance. The move comes in the face of strong opposition from the watchdogs.

Earlier, two committees were mooted, but later the plan was shelved. “Appraising regulators' performance is a good idea. However, the government should not get involved in this,” said VP Raja, chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, adding that the whole idea of setting up regulatory commissions was to distance state government from tariff determination.

New Delhi India is considering various measures including extension of price preference to domestic suppliers to curb the use of imported equipment in national solar mission projects.

The government is contemplating changes in the equipment sourcing policy ahead of the bidding for the second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) programme (2013-17), which is expected to draw investments of R1.08 lakh crore.

New Delhi India has offered key incentives to exporters to tap the growing demand for clean energy equipment and non-polluting electric vehicles in overseas market, which would help it overcome the rising trade deficit.

The commerce ministry has identified a total of 16 green products including solar power equipment for export promotion after a mid-term review of its 2009-14 foreign trade policy. The list also includes equipment like windmills, bio-mass gassifier, waste boiler as well as electric vehicles.

Power sector losses are accumulating as states continue to follow a cautious and staggered approach on tariff hikes despite the hefty increase in electricity purchase costs in recent years.

Rajasthan needs to hike its electricity tariff by 80%, Madhya Pradesh 65%, Tamil Nadu 55%, Punjab 24% and Haryana 15% to bridge revenue gaps of their discoms, according to credit ratings agency Icra.

New Delhi: Even as the central government is pushing states for mandatory implementation of open access (OA) for bulk power consumers, an analysis by a regulators’ body has revealed that contrary to expectations, the consumers in 12 states have had to pay more for power under the new regime.

OA at various levels is the hallmark of electricity reforms and the regime has been effective in 20 states since January 2009 on an optional basis. Under the OA regime, bulk consumers enter into bilateral deals with discoms and stay outside the ambit of the regulated tariff system.

New Delhi Lack of assured coal linkages may drive 18 firms to open market

As many as 18 upcoming power projects with an aggregate capacity of over 25,000 MW might be forced to violate their tariff commitments and seek a much higher price from consumers. This is because the coal ministry has rejected a request from the developers of these projects for assured coal linkages and they might have no other option but to resort to the open market for fuel.

New Delhi The power ministry plans to take up project developers’ concerns about the draft fuel supply agreement (FSA) with the coal ministry soon, a top government official said.

The move is aimed at breaking the prevailing logjam over the signing of the FSAs between power companies and public sector coal companies. Sources said power companies have told the ministry that the draft FSA was not acceptable to them in its present form.

New Delhi Armed with the attorney-general's opinion that the Electricity Act makes it obligatory for power distribution companies (discoms) and bulk consumers to sign agreements for electricity pur

New Delhi The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered cancellation of the 200 MW Mapang Bogudiyar hydroelectric project awarded to a GVK-L&T consortium by the state government earlier, after it was found that the entity did not meet key eligibility conditions to bid for the project.

The court has ordered the state government to award the project to Reliance Infrastructure, which emerged as the second highest bidder for the project The company had also challenged the state government’s decision to award the project to the GVK-L&T combine in the court.