Demand for power sector to increase due to govt's initiative; growth to be more than steady, says Tata Power's Praveen Sinha

The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), which is under the administrative control of the power ministry, has also drawn up a plan to turnaround assets of stressed power plants.

Talking about the company's Mundra plant, Sinha said that the under-recovery for the plant last year was around Rs 1,500 crore.

“Last year, our under-recovery was about Rs 1,500 crore and that is why we went to the committee and told them that it is becoming unsustainable and since the cost of the power is one of the lowest amongst all the beneficiary states, it is in their interest that they come with a solution which takes care of their requirement both in terms of merit or the dispatch and the developer being able to sustain their operations. So I think there is a common understanding and everyone is working towards finding a solution which does not adversely impact anyone to a very large extent,” said Sinha.

With regards to Prayagraj Power, of which Tata Power is one of the suitors, Sinha said that there was no requirement for further re-bidding for the company.

On expectations from high power committee’s recommendations on tariff structure for PPAs and whether the company can raise tariffs, he said, "The high power committee, which had been set up about two months back has been doing huge amount of work in terms of interacting with the five procured states as well as the developers and the other stakeholders including the lenders and also the consumer groups. The purpose was to bring out a common understanding among all these stakeholders. So that it becomes a win-win situation and a solution for everyone to accept. At present, the committee is still going through the report, is still finalising the report and we expect that in next maybe two weeks, the report should come out and thereafter we will know exactly what is the recommendation of the committee."