Guest Column| Price of uncertainty: Why power tariffs need legal predictability

India’s shift to tariff-based competitive bidding is one of the most important institutional reforms in the power sector since the Electricity Act, 2003. Section 63 moved the sector from administered cost-plus tariffs to tariffs discovered through transparent competition and subsequently adopted by regulators. The central government’s competitive bidding guidelines, along with standard bidding documents for Case-1 and Case-2 procurement, created a common national framework for long-term power contracting.

Under Case-1 bidding, procurers invite bids without specifying the project site or fuel source, leaving developers to arrange land, fuel linkages, and clearances.