VIJAYAWADA: A division bench of the High Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the order of single judge cancelling the Request for Selection (RFS) and draft Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of the AP Green Energy Corporation (APGEC) for setting up 6,400 mw ultra mega solar power project in Anantapur, Kurnool, Kadapa and Prakasam districts for providing uninterrupted power supply to farmers.
The bench, however, asked the APGEC not to enter into any agreement with the successful bidders till further orders.
The single-judge bench had earlier issued the order cancelling the draft PPA and RFS called by the APGEC dealing with a petition filed by Tata Power.
The state government as well as the successful bidding companies went for an appeal against the single judge order before the division bench. The division bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice N Jayasurya, heard the petitions.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued on behalf of Shirdi Sai Electricals, while Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Adani Power Limited and Abhishek Singhvi represented Tata Power.
Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi argued that the single judge gave its order on the petition filed by Tata Power, which did not participate in the bidding.
They argued that the project was taken up for the best interests of the public and it was a policy decision of the government to set up the plant. They said that the Supreme Court on several occasions asked the courts not to interfere in policy decisions of a government.
The senior counsels informed the bench that farmers would be benefitted with the project and the government would be able to supply uninterrupted power to farmers.
They said that the project involves several thousands crores of rupees and the government alone cannot invest such a huge amount. They further told the bench that the project was taken up with the participation of private firms on BOT basis and the project would be taken over by the government after 30 years.
They informed that the government would bear the entire cost of the power provided by private companies. They pleaded with the bench to issue a stay on the single judge order, which was detrimental to the interests of farmers.
When the bench sought to know further progress if the stay was vacated, Advocate General S Sriram said the successful bidders would be given Letter of Intent (LOI) and agreements would be entered into within 90 days.
The companies have to show the financial closure within nine months and should supply power in the next 21 months, he said. Singhvi said due procedures were not followed and the APERC was not involved in the project. The bench stayed the single judge order and asked the APGEC not to enter into any agreement with the bidders.