Tata Power shares rise even as SC dismisses plea against Rs 7,000 cr transmission contract

Shares of Tata Power were trading marginally higher in Thursday's trade, even as the Supreme Court dismissed its appeal against the Maharashtra power regulator's decision to award a Rs 7,000-crore transmission contract to Adani Electricity on a nomination basis in March last year.

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) had on February 18 dismissed by Tata Power against a Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) decision on the transmission contract , following which Tata Power had moved the apex court challenging this decision.

At 9.16 am, the stock was trading 0.32 per cent higher Rs 221.45 on BSE.

The apex court upheld APTEL's order, which held that the MERC's decision to choose RTM (regulate tariff mode) route under Section 62 of the Electricity Act 2003 to award the transmission contract cannot be termed as "incorrect, perverse or inappropriate".

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A bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices AS Bopanna and JB Pardiwala directed the state power regulatory commissions to frame regulations for determination of tariff within three months to effectuate a balance for creating a sustainable model of electricity regulation in the states, IANS reported.

Chief Justice Chandrachud, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said where the appropriate commission(s) has already framed regulations, they shall be amended to include provisions on the criteria for choosing the modalities to determine the tariff, in case they have not been already included, IANS reported.

The SC bench said the Electricity Act 2003 provides the states sufficient flexibility to regulate the intra-state transmission systems, wherein the appropriate state commissions possess the power to determine and regulate tariff.

The MERC has neither framed regulations nor notified guidelines prescribing the criteria or guidelines for choosing the modalities to determine tariff, the bench said, adding that the MERC shall determine the tariff by exercising its general regulatory powers under Section 86(1)(a) of the Act, the IANS report suggested.

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