Credit Suisse India Research says that the move by Haryana state electricity distribution utilities to approach the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) opposing a tariff hike for electricity supplied from Adani Power’s 4,620-MW station at Mundra is a perplexing stance.
“We find Haryana’s ‘middle-path’ stance perplexing as, in our view, Haryana should have either directly approached APTEL post CERC ruling in case it was opposed to any tariff hike or, agreed to a compensatory tariff (to be determined). In the event, it was dissatisfied with the quantum of hike, Haryana could have later moved APTEL,’’ Amish Shah and Abhishek Bansal of Credit Suisse said in their report on Thursday.
Credit Suisse feels that Haryana’s move could just be posturing to guard itself against any future allegations which could arise if it had not approached APTEL. It could also be driven by the discom’s willingness to enable quicker resolution of the issue despite it being opposed to the hike.
Also, delay in the compensatory committee’s recommendation and Haryana discom’s move support the research firm’s stance that the resolution of the entire issue shall be a long-drawn process, it said.