HP puts on hold re-bidding process

Law Secretary A C Dogra said his office had sent its opinion to the department concerned. “Since the company (Brakel) has challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court,we should wait for the outcome of the petition. There will be more complications if the government goes ahead with the re-allotment process and the apex court’s decision goes in favour of the company.”

The power department and a section of top government officials,however,are reportedly not happy with the views of the law officials as it will eventually benefit the company.

The officials said the Supreme Court had neither stayed the allotment process,nor reserved the High Court order till now.

The government had earlier bailed out the company from paying up for the losses it had caused to the state. Till now,the government has only chosen not to return the upfront premium of Rs 280 crore that Brakel had deposited for the project under the previous power policy. The policy has since undergone a series of changes,including bidding on the share of free power to the government,besides upfront premium.

The HC,in its order dated October 7,2009,had held that the company misrepresented the facts — its technical and financial credentials — to obtain the project. The order was passed on a petition filed by Reliance Power,a rival company that had failed to get the project.

According to reports,the state’s energy department,too,had submitted a note to the government,holding Brakel responsible for huge losses to the state and suggesting that penalty running into several hundreds of crores be slapped on the company. The state government did not agree to the proposal.