By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday dismissed a petition filed by Tata Power Company (TPC) challenging use of surplus coal from the captive coal mines of Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) for other projects of the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Power.
A division bench comprising Justices Madan B. Lokur and Siddharth Mridul dismissed Tata’s petition, stating that the company had no grounds to file the petition and it is not maintainable.
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) had August 2008 approved Reliance Power’s request to allow utilisation of coal reserves from Sasan for projects other than the ultra mega project, as it planned to set up a 4,000 MW project at Chitrangi in Madhya Pradesh, utilising the excess coal from Sasan.
Tata Power, which had participated in the earlier rounds of bidding for Sasan, challenged the decision in the Delhi High Court January this year, contending the decision violated Sasan UMPP’s tender conditions.
Tata Power was one of the bidders for the Sasan project, which was finally bagged by Reliance Power.
In its petition, the company had contended that any excess coal should be handed over to government-controlled Coal India Limited, as it could benefit the state exchequer.
The Sasan coal mines are estimated to have coal reserves of about one billion tonnes.