Karnataka High Court Quashes KERC’s Captive Status Verification Procedure

NTPC REL Invites Bids for 960 MWh Battery Storage System in Rajasthan

Daily News Wrap-Up: India’s Floating Solar Pipeline Exceeds 1 GW

Battery Storage Shifts from Backup Power to Strategic Energy Asset in India: Interview

Weak Vendor Rules, Financing Hurdles Hit Andhra Pradesh’s Rooftop Solar Market

Scaling India’s Solar Cell Manufacturing Ecosystem for Global Markets

Renewable Energy Developer AXIAN Energy Secures $60 Million

MPERC Seeks Consultants for Renewable Energy Tariff Determination

Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulator Finalizes New Grid Code

Uttar Pradesh Approves PPAs for 130 MW of Solar Power Under KUSUM

<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/amazon_polly_95341.mp3?version=1779790205">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table>The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="https://www.aperc.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APERC</a>) has proposed a new framework for procurement, capital investment, cost control, standardization, benchmarking, inventory management, and prudence review for transmission and distribution licensees.
The draft regulations titled ‘Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (Procurement, Investment and Cost Control) Regulations, 2026’ will apply to transmission projects exceeding ₹200 million (~$2.1 million) and distribution projects exceeding ₹50 million (~$524,500).
It requires licensees to follow approved procurement policies, purchase manuals, standard technical specifications, standard bidding documents, benchmark costs, and investment approval guidelines before such expenditure can be considered for tariff recovery.
Procurement and Tendering Process
Under the draft, every licensee must submit a procurement policy, a procurement manual, standard technical specifications, and standard bidding documents for approval within three months of the regulations coming into force.
The Commission proposed that all investments be planned, designed, and executed in accordance with the Central Electricity Authority’s manual on transmission planning criteria, the electricity distribution network planning criteria, or criteria approved by it.
On tendering, the draft requires procurement to be conducted through transparent, competitive, non-discriminatory, e-procurement-based processes.
Procurement should ordinarily be through open competitive bidding using a two-part bid system consisting of technical and financial bids.
Tender conditions must encourage competition and wider participation. Technical specifications, qualification criteria, turnover requirements, experience conditions, and tender terms must be objective, generic, non-restrictive, and non-discriminatory, and must not favor or exclude any bidder, supplier, contractor, technology, or manufacturer.
Procurement through nomination, proprietary purchase, single tender, or limited tender will be allowed only in exceptional circumstances and will be subject to scrutiny.
Artificial splitting or fragmentation of procurement to avoid competition, approval thresholds, and delegated authority limits will be treated as a violation of the regulation.
Licensees must also establish safeguards against cartelization, collusive bidding, bid rigging, fraud, corruption, coercive practices, and conflict of interest.
Standardization and Benchmarking
Procurement must be guided by standardization, benchmark pricing, lifecycle cost optimization, quality assurance, and total cost of ownership.
Licensees may procure materials and equipment only in accordance with approved specifications and standards.
The Commission may benchmark procurement prices, technical specifications, and project costs against comparable utilities, government agencies, market trends, or national standards, and may disallow unreasonable deviations during the prudence check.
Licensees must submit annual cost data, including material prices, labor rates, and benchmark costs for the ensuing year, by December 31 every year.
Inventory Management
For contract and inventory management, the draft proposes that licensees monitor delivery schedules, quality assurance, testing, performance obligations, and enforcement of contractual terms. They must also establish vendor registration, evaluation, and performance monitoring systems.
Annual procurement and material requirement plans must align with approved programs and system requirements, while excess procurement, avoidable emergency procurement, and the accumulation of slow-moving or non-moving inventory must be avoided.
Transparency
Licensees must publish tender notices, corrigenda, pre-bid clarifications, approved technical specifications, bid results, contract awards, benchmark costs, and other procurement details on their websites and e-procurement portals.
The Commission may also conduct audits, inspections, or verification of procurement, investment, and execution activities, and may direct independent technical, financial, quality, or procurement audits through third-party agencies wherever necessary.
The licensee must maintain auditable procurement records, including tender documents, bids, evaluations, approvals, contracts, and payment records.
Prudence Check
The Commission may disallow any expenditure found to be imprudent, excessive, avoidable, non-competitive, improperly procured, or in violation of the regulation.
The board of directors of each licensee will be responsible for ensuring compliance. Violation of the regulations may attract action, including the disallowance of expenditure.
Last month, APERC <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-power-regulator-defers-major-resource-plan-changes-of-discoms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the state distribution companies’ performance review petitions for the financial year 2025, allowing limited changes to future resource plans, such as revisions to demand, sales, and energy requirements, based on actual performance.
Subscribe to Mercom’s real-time <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/product/mercoms-renewable-energy-regulatory-updates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Regulatory Updates</a> to ensure you don’t miss any critical updates from the renewable industry.

Andhra Pradesh Proposes Procurement, Cost Control Rules for Power Licensees

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved the tariffs proposed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and PTC India Limited for 2 GW of wind power projects.
The two petitioners had quoted a tariff rate of ₹2.65 (~$0.04)/kWh and ₹3.46 (~$0.05)/kWh, respectively.
The order was issued after two separate petitions filed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), and PTC India Limited requested the commission to approve the amount quoted by them for the wind projects (1 GW each).
Background:
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and PTC India Limited had filed separate petitions before the CERC seeking its approval for the adoption of tariffs for 2,000 MW (2&#215;1000 MW) of wind power projects connected to the inter-state transmission system (ISTS).
In the petition, SECI requested the commission for the approval of ₹2.65/kWh (~$0.04)/kWh, along with a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/kWh for 1,000 MW of projects.
SECI had also submitted that some of these projects have already been commissioned. As the DISCOMs and wind developers are spread over multiple states, the DISCOMs had approached their respective state electricity regulatory commissions for the approval of the procurement process and the adoption of the tariff.
PTC, which was appointed as the trading licensee agency by SECI, also presented a petition to approve a pooled tariff rate of ₹3.46 (~$0.05)/kWh (including the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/ kWh) for another 1,000 MW of wind projects.
According to the petitioners, the power generated from these projects would also help the buying utilities and distribution companies in meeting their renewable energy purchase obligation (RPO) requirements.
The CERC observed that the selection of the successful bidders and the tariff of the projects had been carried out by SECI in accordance with the guidelines issued by the MNRE. The commission added that there was no deviation from the guidelines in the Request for Selection (RfS) documents.
Considering this, the commission approved the tariffs for the projects.
The two petitioners had also requested for the approval of the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/ kWh for the projects.
However, to this, the commission stated that the CERC could not approve the trading margin for long-term transactions since the new trading margin regulations do not provide the provisions for long-term transactions, and it should be done on a mutually agreed basis. Therefore, the trading margin mutually agreed by the two parties will apply to the projects.
Earlier this year, the CERC <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-regulations-electricity-trading-license/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had issued a notification</a> to address the procedure, terms, and conditions for the grant of licenses for electricity trading. In its order, the CERC said that for short-term contracts and contracts through power exchanges, the trading licensee should charge a minimum trading margin of ₹0 per kWh and a maximum trading margin of ₹0.07 ($0.00099)/kWh.
Last month, the CERC <a href="https://mercomindia.com/rajasthan-discom-313-million-ntpc-trading-margin-dispute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">directed</a> three distribution companies in the state of Rajasthan to pay ₹313.4 million (~$4.4 million) to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (<a href="http://www.nvvn.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NVVN</a>) in a trading margin dispute.
Image credit: ccfarmer [CC BY <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3.0</a>]

CERC Approves Tariffs of ₹2.65/kWh and ₹3.46/kWh for 2 GW of Wind Projects

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://jercuts.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JERC</a>) for the state of Goa and union territories has issued Electricity Supply Code Regulations for 2018, detailing the obligations of distribution licensees (DISCOMs) and consumers toward each other. The code also specifies a set of practices that must be adopted by the DISCOMs to provide efficient, cost-effective, and consumer friendly service to the consumers.
This code will apply to all DISCOMs, including deemed licensees, and all consumers in the state of Goa and the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, and Chandigarh.
Key Points
<ul>
<li>The licensee will supply power within the frequency band specified in the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) (Indian Electricity Grid Code) Regulations, 2010.</li>
<li>A supplier will not permit the voltage to vary from the declared voltage more than the limit specified by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).</li>
<li>Consumers having a contracted demand of 20 kW and above will have to install a power factor correction device such as shunt capacitor.</li>
<li>The consumer will submit necessary technical and operational details as needed to co-ordinate with the DISCOM before installing any generating unit in any premises, in case it is to be connected with the distribution system.</li>
<li>Charges for supply of electricity will be as per the tariff schedule approved by the JERC.</li>
<li>Whenever a case of theft of energy is detected, the authorized officer will carry out the assessment, in accordance with the procedure laid down by JERC.</li>
<li>The licensee will inform high tension consumers in advance about any load shedding as early as possible for arranging alternate means.</li>
<li>In case the grievances of the consumer are not addressed by the licensee, the consumer can approach the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forums (CGRF) established in accordance with JERC Regulations, 2009.</li>
</ul>
Due to extensive urbanization, it has become difficult to lay distribution or transmission lines, especially in urban areas because of the challenge of acquiring the necessary right of way. Therefore, before allowing supply to an applicant through an independent feeder, technical feasibility, including the right of way to lay the line, space for placing a controlling breaker in the control room, and the creation of an additional line bay will all be examined.
JERC <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jerc-open-access-regulations-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently</a> also issued open access regulations for intra-state transmission (ISTS) and distribution for the year.

JERC Issues 2018 Electricity Supply Code Regulations

licensee

Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.

RECENT POSTS