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Reliance Power Transmission's arm, North Karanpura Transmission Company, has served notices to the electricity distribution utilities of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa.
It has cited delays in requisite clearances for a key transmission link being executed by it as one of the reasons for serving the notice. The company has now sought “reliefs” under the ‘ force majeure ' and ‘change of law' provisions of the Transmission Service Agreement.
This is the second major transmission project being implemented by Reliance Power Transmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, where a notice has been issued to beneficiary utilities.
Reliance Power Transmission's arm, Talcher-II Transmission Company, had earlier served notices to electricity distribution utilities in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa citing “unforeseen delays” in clearances for a key transmission link that was to evacuate electricity from generation stations in the eastern region to the southern States.
Joint scheme
The North Karanpura transmission project is a joint scheme for evacuating electricity from the eastern region projects to the northern and western regions, with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra being the lead beneficiaries in the two regions.
The notices issued by the North Karanpura Transmission Company cites Article 11 ( force majeure ) and Article 12 (Change of law) of the transmission service agreement (TSA) for seeking “reliefs” as provided for in the pact.
In its notice, the company has cited delays in issuance of approval under ‘Section 164' and other “critical clearance” needed for the registration of the transmission scheme under the Project Import Regulation, 1986 (Chapter 98.01) of the Indian Customs Act 1962 as among the reasons for serving the notice.
‘Section 164' of the Electricity Act, 2003 pertains to the requisite permission for the placing of electric lines in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. The force majeure clause essentially releases a party to a contract from liability if some unforeseen event beyond its control prevents it from performing its obligations under the pact.
Reliance Power Transmission had emerged as the lowest bidder by quoting a levelised tariff of Rs 258 crore a year for implementing the North Karanpura Transmission System on a build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.
Beneficiaries of the project include five distribution utilities of Uttar Pradesh, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, Madhya Pradesh Power Trading Company Ltd and the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd.
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