Summary
Objective load-despatch data showing first injection into the grid on 1 April 2016 displaced a commissioning certificate dated 31 March. The wind project therefore qualified for the newer Rs.4.78 tariff rather than Rs.5.92 under the earlier control period. Its bona fide pursuit of the higher rate did not justify denying the applicable newer tariff or forcing later competitive bidding guidelines on a project outside their scope. Processing of a power-purchase agreement at the applicable rate was directed.
Issues
- Whether the commissioning certificate or objective grid-injection data determined the applicable tariff.
- Whether the generator could receive the newer control-period rate despite litigating for the earlier rate.
Held
- The governing tariff orders tied their application to actual commissioning. Meter readings and statutory load-despatch data provided an objective basis for that date; undisputed data showed commissioning on 1 April 2016, contrary to the earlier certificate. (¶ 24–29)
- The 17 March 2016 tariff order applied at Rs.4.78 per unit for projects commissioned during the control period commencing 1 April 2016, with the prescribed twenty-five-year project-life treatment. The generator’s unsuccessful but bona fide claim to the higher old tariff did not defeat parity with comparable projects. (¶ 29)
- The later December 2017 competitive bidding guidelines did not apply: the intra-State project did not meet the minimum bid-capacity requirement. Those guidelines could not displace the applicable control-period tariff in this case. (¶ 30–31)
Result
Appeals partly allowed; High Court merits and review orders set aside. Generator entitled to the 17 March 2016 tariff order, with PPA application to be processed on that basis from 1 April 2016. Second writ petition disposed of as no longer surviving. No costs.