A senior official of the state utility says that power tied up by it through various arrangements was cheaper than the previous quarter
State power utility Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) said that there were no irregularities in power purchase by it, and also stressed that it would take action against two top private power producers who had violated power purchase agreements by stopping supply of electricity.
DNA had reported on Tuesday that a power expert had written to Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) chairman Anand Kumar accusing GUVNL of fudging power purchase price figures. He had questioned how GUVNL’s power purchase cost for the first quarter of 2018 (Jan-Mar) at Rs4.33 per unit was the same as the previous quarter, i.e. Oct-Dec 2017, even though it was buying costlier power from other sources in the wake of discontinuation of supply by Adani Power and Essar Power.
A senior official of the state utility said that power tied up by it through various arrangements was cheaper than the previous quarter.
“The power tied up by GUVNL under short-term arrangements and through power exchanges (in Jan-March 2018) is cheaper than the previous quarter, and even though there is increase in power purchase cost for certain sources in subsequent quarter, the average power purchase cost has remained at Rs4.33 per unit,” GUVNL managing director Pankaj Joshi, told DNA.
According to GUVNL data, it had purchased 23,469 MUs of electricity in Oct-Dec 2017 quarter at an average price of Rs4.33. For Jan-Mar 2018 quarter, it purchased 22,793 MUs, while average cost was Rs4.33. Energy expert KK Bajaj had alleged manipulation of figures so as to keep the fuel surcharge in subsequent quarters lower.
Joshi said that allegations of manipulation were baseless, and stressed that GUVNL had provided factual information about power purchase to GERC.
Official figures show that the utility scaled up power purchase from Tata Power’s Mundra project in the first quarter of 2018, and sourced more power from Indian Energy Exchange and traders, to make up for discontinuation of electricity supply by Adani and Essar. In response to a question about the power traders from whom GUVNL had purchased 887 million units of electricity in first quarter of 2018, Joshi said that 514 MUs were purchased from GMR under the central government’s flexible coal utilisation policy, and the rest from NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited, Tata Power Trading Company Limited, and Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited.
“These companies were selected through competitive bidding process on the DEEP portal of central government,” he stated. GUVNL has been forced to look for other sources of electricity in view of Adani Power and Essar Power stopping power supply citing high cost of generation. As per the power purchase agreements, Adani Power is mandated to supply 2,000 MW power to GUVNL, and Essar Power 1,000 MW.
DRAWING FLAK
GUVNL and GERC have drawn criticism for failure to act against Adani Power and Essar Power, but Joshi said that they are taking actions against them as per provisions of the power purchase agreements for non supply.
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