VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has extended the stay on the order of the State government constituting a high-level negotiation committee (HLNC) to review and renegotiate renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) till August 28. On July 25, the court had suspended the government’s July 1 order by four weeks, after renewable power generators challenged the State’s decision.
The court resumed the hearing on the matter on Thursday and heard the arguments of both the petitioner’s advocate and the State’s counsel. After hearing the arguments, the court posted the matter to August 28 for further hearing.
It may be recalled that the State had decided to renegotiate existing power purchase agreements and scrap in-pipeline wind agreements, alleging that the contracts signed during the previous Telugu Desam regime were burdening the exchequer to the tune of Rs 2,636 crore. Meanwhile, the government, it is learnt, softened its stand on review of renewable PPAs. It has reportedly decided to re-examine only those where prima facie instances of irregularities were observed.