The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has reduced the capital cost of Bajaj Hindusthan’s Lalitpur thermal power unit by Rs 3,022 crore. The move would reduce state-run discom Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation’s (UPPCL) cost of electricity purchase from the plant by 28 paise or 13.5%, with resultant annual savings of Rs 550 crore. The relief will be available for the discom for 20 years.
The regulator’s order could also consumers, provided the UPPCL passes on the benefits to them via tariff revisions. The Lalitpur Power Generation Company (LPGCL) had filed a petition for the approval of tariff for the 1,980-MW super-critical thermal power plant before the regulator in 2019. In an order delivered last Thursday, the regulator determined a capital cost of Rs 12,727.5 crore as against Rs 15,750 crore claimed by the company. It also directed LPGCL to file a fresh tariff proposal in the light of the commission’s order for reduction capital cost.
During the course of the hearing on the petition, consumers’ body UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhogta Parishad had stated the capital cost was very high. Avadhesh Verma, chairman of the consumers council, who was also a petitioner in the case, said the project cost as per the original investment approval had been estimated at Rs 11,848 crore, which the company raised to Rs 15,749.75 crore in 2019, which is around 33% more than the original approval.
It may be mentioned that the LPGCL had signed an agreement with the UP government to set up a 1,980-MW super critical thermal power plant in Lalitpur district of Bundelkhand through the MoU route and as per the power purchase agreement, UPPCL was to purchase the entire saleable power to be generated by the project for 25 years after the project was commissioned. The first unit of 660 MW was commissioned in 2015.
