Gujarat | GUVNL paid higher charges to buy power from Tata subsidiary in 2022, 2023: Data

In response to a question by Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary, the state government submitted that it had signed a PPA at Rs 2.26 per unit with CGPL in April 2007 for 25 years.

In 2022, GUVNL procured power from CGPL at charges as high as Rs 6.06 per unit in June and Rs 5.89 per unit in July. The lowest charge paid was in January 2022 at Rs 2.95 per unit. (Express file photo)

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL), on behalf of the state government, has been consistently purchasing power from a subsidiary of Tata Power Company Limited (TPCL) well over the agreed upon rate of Rs 2.26 per unit in 2022 and 2023, showed data tabled in the Assembly Friday.

The higher prices were owing to the rise in coal prices and a subsequent Central government direction that had ordered that imported coal-based power projects be run at full capacity, the government reiterated.

Additionally, the state government has also offset Rs 72 crore, payable as fixed charge, of the total Rs 139.87 crore penalty against Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL) — the Tata subsidiary — for not adhering to terms of the power purchase agreement (PPA) where the firm’s plant remained unavailable for power production in 2021-2022.

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In response to a question by Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary, the state government submitted that it had signed a PPA at Rs 2.26 per unit with CGPL in April 2007 for 25 years. However, in 2022, GUVNL procured power from CGPL at charges as high as Rs 6.06 per unit in June and Rs 5.89 per unit in July. The lowest charge paid was in January 2022 at Rs 2.95 per unit.

At Rs 4.52 per unit, June was the costliest month in 2023, while the cheapest was January at Rs 3.63 per unit.
Overall, GUVNL purchased 10,447 million units (MU) of power in 2022 from CGPL and another 7,889 MU in 2023.

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