Goa govt to pay Rs 2.92 bn to RInfra as non-payment of electricity dues

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) today said it has won an arbitration award of Rs 2.92 billion against the Goa government for non-payment of electricity dues.

It said the need for arbitration arose due to prolonged non-payment of dues by the state government towards supply of electricity by RInfra from its 48 MW Goa Power Plant in Sancoale.

"RInfra has won an arbitration award of Rs 2.92 billion against Government of Goa. The Arbitration Tribunal, in its award on February 16, 2018, has ordered Government of Goa to pay Rs 2.92 billion to Reliance Infrastructure Limited by April 15, 2018," the company said in a statement.

The Tribunal has also ordered payment of interest at 15 per cent per annum on the total award amount if the government fails to pay the entire award amount by the deadline, it said.

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission had constituted the Tribunal under the new rules laid down in 2015.

"Starting in January 2016, the proceedings of the tribunal were held for about two years and all pleadings and arguments by both the parties were completed in 12 sittings," it said.

RInfra said the total outstanding, along with interest as on October 31, 2017, amount to Rs 2.78 billion The Tribunal has also awarded interest from October 2017 till the date of the award, which amounts to Rs 140 million

"The contention of RInfra that the rate of energy for the period from June 2013 to August 2014 was based on the varying prices of fuel and dollar exchange rate as was agreed to by the Goa Government, was upheld by the Tribunal," the company said.