NLDC bars Telangana discoms from participating in power bids, Telangana HC stays order

Had not the High Court given the stay, Telangana would have faced a serious power shortage crisis as over 50 per cent of the power supplied in the State came from open access.

Hyderabad: A major power supply crisis was averted in Telangana with the intervention of the Telangana High Court, after the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) barred the Telangana discoms from participating in electricity bids from Thursday morning.

The NLDC’s action came in the backdrop of a complaint from the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) about payment of Rs. 261 crore related to the purchase of power from Chhattisgarh. The Telangana government moved a lunch motion in the High Court and got a stay order on the NLDC’s action in barring Telangana discoms from purchasing power from open access.

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Had not the High Court given the stay, Telangana would have faced a serious power shortage crisis as over 50 per cent of the power supplied in the State came from open access.

The Telangana government had earlier booked a corridor for power supply with PGCIL to bring electricity from Chhattisgarh to Telangana. The then government had booked an advanced corridor for supply of 1000 megawatt additional power. However, Chhattisgarh government cancelled this corridor half way through. The PGCIL has now issued notices to Telangana discoms to pay Rs. 261 crore as compensation. The Power Grid Corporation was arguing that Telangana had to pay the amount, whether it used the corridor or not.

Meanwhile, TRANSCO officials claimed that there would be no impact as the State had got sufficient power to meet the demand. On Thursday, the peak demand touched 12,739 MW and power consumption was 237 million units, which was easily taken care of, the officials claimed. The officials stated that the issue related to PGCIL dues would be resolved through a legal process.

Telangana’s North and South discoms had signed a PPA with their counterpart in Chhattisgarh on September 22, 2015 for supply of 1,000 MW power from Marwa thermal power station. The power purchase from Chhattisgarh commenced in 2017 and continued till 2022. But Chhattisgarh never supplied 1000 MW to Telangana regularly. In the initial years, it was only around 700 MW and by 2022, the supply was as low as 200 MW. Due to this the entire agreement with the Chhattisgarh government had become non-functional leading to issue related to PGCIL dues to a tune of Rs. 261 crore.