The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Tata Power’s case challenging the award of a Rs 7,000-crore transmission contract by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on a nomination basis to Adani Electricity Mumbai Infra Limited.
The commission had opted to issue the contract under the regulate tariff mode (RTM) under section 62 of the Electricity Act and the apex court found nothing incorrect, perverse or inappropriate in the award of the contract to the Adanis, bypassing the tender route.
This is being touted as a landmark case in the electricity sector – and flies in the face of the Supreme Court’s decision in the telecom and coal block cases where it said that all government contracts/ approvals/projects should be awarded through an auction or bidding process.
