- (1.) THE present application has been made by Coastal Gujarat Power Limited under Section 63 of Electricity Act, 2003 (the Act) for adoption of tariff for supply of electricity arrived at through international competitive bidding process for Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (hereinafter referred as 'Mundra UMPP').
(2.) Section 63 of the Act envisages that the Appropriate Commission shall adopt the tariff if such tariff has been determined through the transparent process of bidding in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government. The Central Government in Ministry of Power has issued the guidelines contemplated under Section 63 of the Act, titled "Guidelines for Determination of Tariff by Bidding Process for Procurement of Power by Distribution Licensees" (hereinafter referred to as 'the guidelines') vide Resolution No. 23/11/2004-R&R (Vol.II) dated 19.1.2005. The salient features of the bidding process as laid down in the guidelines are discussed hereunder for convenience of reference: (a) The guidelines apply for procurement of base-load, peak-load and seasonal power requirements of distribution licensees through competitive bidding. The distribution licensees (referred to as 'procurers' for the purpose of competitive bidding) may adopt the guidelines for long-term procurement for a period of 7 years and above and medium term procurement for a period exceeding 1 year up to a period of seven years. (b) Procurement by more than one distribution licensee through a combined bid process shall be permitted and in such a case, the procurer shall have the option of conducting the bid process through an authorized representative. (c) The bid documentation shall be prepared in accordance with the guidelines and the approval of the appropriate Regulatory Commission shall be obtained unless the bid documents are as per the standard bid document issued by the Central Government. In such cases, an intimation shall be sent by the procurer or its authorized representative to the appropriate Regulatory Commission about initiation of the bidding process. In the event of deviation from the bidding conditions contained in the guidelines, approval of the appropriate Commission shall be sought by the procurers or their authorized representative. (d) For long-term procurement from the projects with pre-identified sites, the procurers or their authorized representative are required to complete such activities as site identification and land acquisition required for the project, environmental clearance, fuel linkage, water linkage etc. (e) A two-stage bidding process comprising separate Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Approval (RFP) shall be adopted for long-term procurement under the guidelines and the procurer or authorized representative shall prepare bid document including RFQ and RFP in line with the guidelines and standard bid document. (f) The procurer shall publish a RFQ notice in at least two national newspapers, company website and preferably in trade magazines to accord it wide publicity. The bidding process shall necessarily be by way of international competitive bidding. RFP shall be issued to all bidders, who are qualified at RFQ stage. In case, the bidders seek any deviation and procurer finds that deviations are reasonable, the procurer shall obtain approval of the appropriate Commission before agreeing to deviation. (g) The minimum number of qualified bidders should be at least two other than any affiliate company or companies of the procurer to ensure competitiveness. If the number of qualified bidders responding to the RFQ/RFP is less than two and the procurer still wants to continue with the bidding process, the same may be done with the consent of the appropriate Commission. (h) The procurer shall constitute a committee for evaluation of the bid with at least one member external to the procurer organization and its affiliates. The external member shall have expertise in financial matters/bid evaluation. The procurer shall reveal past association to the external members directly or through its affiliates that could create potential conflict of interest. (i) The eligible bidder shall be required to submit separate technical and price bids along with necessary bid-guarantee. The bid shall be opened in public and representatives of bidders desiring to participate shall be allowed to remain present. The bidder, who has quoted lowest levellized tariff as per evaluation procedure, shall be considered for award of the contract. (j) The Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) shall be signed by the procurers with the selected bidders consequent to the selection process in accordance with the terms and conditions as finalized in the bid document before the RFP stage. After signing of the PPAs, the Evaluation Committee shall provide appropriate certification on adherence to the guidelines and to the bid process established by the procurer. The procurer shall also make the evaluation of bid public by indicating terms of minimum bid and anonymous comparison of all other bids and also the contract signed with the successful bidder. (k) The applicant shall submit the final PPA along with the certification by the Evaluation Committee to the appropriate Commission for adoption of tariff in terms of Section 63 of the Act. The Central Government has been facilitating development of a number of Ultra Mega Power Projects by using the economies of scale which aims at making available comparatively cheaper power to more than one state. Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (4000 MW) in the state of Gujarat has been conceived with the purpose of supplying power to the following distribution licensees (also referred to as the procurers) of the beneficiary states: (i) Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (ii) Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. (iii) Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (iv) Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (v) Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (vi) Punjab State Electricity Board. (vii) Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd.
(3.) IN accordance with the decision taken in the meetings held under the aegis of Secretary (Power) with the Principal Secretaries/Secretaries (Energy/Power) of the beneficiary States, the contracted capacity of Mundra UMPP would be shared by the procurers in the following proportions: JUDGEMENT_265_TLET0_20070.htm ;