SECI Granted Commissioning Time Extension On Account Of Delay In FDI Approval

Recently, SECI has granted time extension in financial closure, land acquisition and scheduled commissioning date to M/s Masaya Solar Energy Pvt Ltd for their 300MW solar power plant.

In the above context, the Masaya Solar Energy Pvt Ltd and SECI signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) dated 03.07.2020 for commissioning of 300MW solar plant. But due to delay in approval of solar developer’s FDI application, the project could not achieve desired milestone i.e. financial closure, land acquisition and scheduled commissioning date. Subsequently, the solar developer submitted a petition to central regulatory commission (CERC) for approval of extension of time of the project, on account of force majeure event beyond the reasonable control of the petition.

In this litigation, respondents were

a. Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd , b. Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited, c. Northern Power Distribution Company Of Telangana Limited, d. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company Limited, e. Central Transmission Utility Of India Ltd, f. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).

The prayers of the petitioners are given below :

i. Grant extension of time for achieving financial closure and land acquisition of the project for a period approximately five months i.e. from 09.11.2021 to 12.04.2022.

ii. Grant extension of the scheduled commissioning date (SCOD) to the petitioner for a period of five months i.e. from 12.05.2022 to 12.10.2022.

In the meantime, the respondent no. 1, SECI granted time extension on account of delay in approval of foreign direct investment (FDI) appllication.

SECI also clarified , that didn’t grant time extension on account of force majeure event and issued extension letter as a matter of policy.

In view of the above context, commission permitted the petitioner to withdraw the petition.