The government is considering a new market segment on power exchanges that would allow the sale of electricity at prices higher than the general ceiling to allow high-cost projects such as gas or imported coal-based plants to sell power.
Many of these high-cost power plants are currently not operational as they do not have buyers.
Spot electricity prices on power exchanges are capped at ₹12 per unit. The proposal seeks to ensure increased electricity availability while also reviving these non-operational projects. Nearly 24 GW of gas-based capacity and 17 GW of imported coal-based capacity is either idle or under-utilised due to a lack of buyers since per unit prices are high because of steep fuel costs.
