No petition received on UMPP tariff revision: CERC

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) today said it has so far not received any petition from developers seeking revision in existing power purchase agreements for ultra mega power projects.

"Regarding the power purchase agreements (for UMPPs), no petition has come to us. Under the law, if some petitions come then one will have to see under what provisions it comes," CERC chairman Pramod Deo said on the sidelines of MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He was responding to a query seeking CERC's view on reports that UMPP developers are seeking upward revision in existing power purchase agreements.

The comments come at a time when Tata Power is seeking higher tariff for electricity generated from Mundra UMPP in Gujarat. The project was bagged through tariff-based competitive bidding but steep rise in international coal prices has made the existing tariff unviable for the company.

Projects having generation capacity of 4,000 MW are generally referred to as UMPPs.

"The important thing is when the bids were called, they (UMPP operators) had quoted (tariffs) based on certain assumptions and it was a risk they had taken. The argument can be that the beneficial states and distribution companies can say this is what their agreement was and you have to supply according to that," Deo said.

Four UMPPs have been awarded to developers so far. Apart from Mundra, the other three projects -- Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand) have been won by Reliance Power.