Himachal Pradesh High Court dismisses Reliance Energy petition
October 30th, 2008 - 7:44 pm ICT by IANSShimla, Oct 30 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court Thursday dismissed a petition by Reliance Energy for allocation of a hydropower project to it without inviting fresh bids if the existing contract, awarded to an overseas firm, was cancelled.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice Rajeev Sharma dismissed the Reliance Energy petition challenging a cabinet decision July 7 to invite bids once again in case the existing contract to Brakel Corp NV of Netherlands was cancelled.
With this, the government can re-invite bids for execution of the multi-million dollar Thopan-Powari-Jangi power project in Kinnaur district if the original contract is cancelled.
Earlier, the High Court had cleared legal hurdles for Brakel by dismissing a Reliance Energy petition challenging the allotment of the project to the Dutch firm.
The High Court had dismissed the petition as infructuous and observed that the court’s intervention was not required at this point of time as the government had already started the process to review the allotment of the power project to Brakel.
However, uncertainty still looms large over the fate of the project, with the state government time and again asking Brakel to prove its credentials.
Executives of the Dutch hydropower major met Principal Power Secretary Ajay Mittal earlier this month to clarify the company’s financial credentials that have been questioned.
Brakel said it was capable of completing the Rs.40-billion ($869 million) project by 2013.
However, the government is yet to sign the pre-implementation agreement, which is mandatory before beginning work on a project. In fact, it has despatched two show-cause notices to Brakel asking why its contract should not be scrapped.
The project was allotted to Brakel in December 2006 by the previous Congress government through open international bidding.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power this January, it awarded the same project to Brakel, which made an upfront payment of Rs.1.95 billion along with interest.
“There is apparently lack of clarity on the part of the government,” a senior bureaucrat remarked, on condition of anonymity.
- Himachal losing Rs.100-cr a year on delayed hydro project - Apr 05, 2011
- Himachal losing Rs.150 crore a year on power project - Aug 23, 2011
- Himachal wants to re-allot hydro-power project to Brakel - Jul 25, 2010
- Dhumal details loss due to delay in hydropower project - Dec 08, 2010
- Court notice to Himachal government over power project - Mar 17, 2010
- Himachal court cancels allotment of hydropower project to Brakel - Oct 07, 2009
- Probe demanded into Himachal hydropower project contract - Oct 09, 2009
- Brakel gets more time to respond to Reliance Energy's petition - Mar 31, 2009
- Himachal penalises Dutch firm Rs.280 cr for project delay - Dec 05, 2009
- Himachal Pradesh to issue show-cause notice to Brakel - Oct 22, 2009
- Himachal court advances hearing on Brakel's hydropower project - Apr 23, 2009
- Himachal signs power project agreement with Brakel - Apr 09, 2009
- Reliance Energy takes Himachal government, Brakel to court - Dec 23, 2008
- Himachal allows Dutch firm to begin power project work - Nov 25, 2008
- Brakel gets four weeks to reply on Reliance Energy petition - Jan 08, 2009
Tags: bharatiya janata party, congress government, division bench, hydropower project, implementation agreement, international bidding, legal hurdles, power secretary, principal power, rajeev sharma