CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has saved the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation (TNGECL) from being denied power to be drawn from the grid over a payment dispute with Kamuthi Renewable Energy Limited (KREL), an Adani Group entity dealing with solar power.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan granted the relief to TNGECL by ordering no coercive action shall be taken against it till June 30, considering the predicament of the public sector power utility.
The matter pertains to the charges and dues TNGECL owed to KREL for supplying solar energy. It calculated the dues under compound interest but TNGECL approached the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) which issued an order, on February 17, 2026, stating simple interest be calculated.
As a consequence, KREL made the calculation and uploaded the bill for Rs 38.08 crore on the Payment Ratification and Analysis in Power Procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of Generators (PRAAPTI) Portal on February 21.
The consequent initiation of action under the Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022, would result in snapping connectivity to the grid leaving TNGECL scurrying for power.
Challenging the TNERC order and invoice, TNGECL filed a writ petition which was dismissed on February 29 by a single judge who also vacated an interim injunction granted earlier by the court stating that the petition was not maintainable since the remedy lies before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).
The bench, in its order, said that it permits TNGECL to pursue the appeal before APTEL considering the predicaments as submitted by the AG and the subsistence of an injunction until the writ petition was dismissed. “However, we make it clear that no proceedings pursuant to the TNERC order shall be taken till June 30,” it added.