Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. & Ors. Vs Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd. & Anr. (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered a miscellaneous application filed by Adani Power Rajasthan Limited (APRL), a generating company under Section 2(28) of the Electricity Act, 2003, seeking directions against the Rajasthan distribution licensees (Rajasthan Discoms) for payment of ₹1,376.35 crore towards Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) under Article 8.3.5 of the Power Purchase Agreement dated 28.01.2010. The application was filed in appeals that had already been finally disposed of by a three-Judge Bench judgment dated 31.08.2020, with review petitions having been dismissed on 02.03.2021.
The original dispute concerned compensation payable to APRL under the “change in law” clause of the Power Purchase Agreement after the company was compelled to use imported Indonesian coal due to non-availability of domestic coal linkage. The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) had granted change-in-law compensation while rejecting APRL’s claim for carrying cost. On appeal, the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) upheld the change-in-law claim and also held APRL entitled to carrying cost. The Supreme Court, in its judgment dated 31.08.2020, dismissed the Rajasthan Discoms’ appeals, affirmed the concurrent findings of RERC and APTEL, and addressed the issue of interest/late payment surcharge. While the PPA provided for LPS at 2% above the applicable SBAR compounded monthly, the Court directed that the applicable SBAR, capped at 9% per annum and compounded annually, would apply instead.
