During the month, India's energy PSUs continued to add more feathers in their cap. NTPC REL Energy, which is the renewable energy company within power behemoth NTPC, has bagged a 500 MW project from SECI under the Guaranteed Renewable Power Supply scheme at a tariff of ₹6 per unit, thus ensuring assured peak renewable power supply. At around the same time, NHPC won a ruling in favor of itself under an arbitral award for an amount of ₹392.31 crores, along with €15.36 lakhs, concerning a long-standing dispute connected with its Subansiri Lower Hydro Electric Project. Such arbitral awards mean much more to India than the money involved because they prove that the country's PSUs can safeguard their commercial interests in such disputes.
The two events complement each other by showing how one PSU is successfully making inroads into the new age of renewable power production by competing commercially, whereas another is able to protect its legacy investments in hydro power via a legal process. For an industry often known for being plagued by delays and cost escalations, the two achievements show that India’s PSUs in the energy sector have begun to play both offence and defence equally well.
