Legal aspects & Power Projects in India

Energy is one of the essentials to our life and the quantity of energy consumed per capita can be used as an indicator of a country’s development level. The growth of population is one of the major force driving towards the increase in energy demand globally and India, being the second most populous country in the world, the demand for energy has increased in manifold.

It is been estimated that by 2022, India would require 327 GW of power generation capacity. In India, power projects present a promising business opportunity which has not been tapped with full potential in India.

With the liberalization of market, private players have also marked their presence alone or in conjunction with the Government. The general framework governing the implementation of power projects by private participation depends upon:

(a)  The segment of the power sector that the project intends to develop;

(b)  The main fuel for the power project, if the project involves the establishment of a generating station;

(c)  The nature of the power project; and

(d)  The classification of the developer.

Nature of Private Participation:

Power projects by private developers can relate to either:

(a)The generation segment; or

(b)The transmission segment; or

(c)The distribution and supply segment.

Within each of these segments, the scale of the project can be:

(a)              That of captive project for a specific identified group of consumers; or

(b)              An interstate project, within a specific state, or

(c)              An interstate, for the benefit or more than one state.

Applicable Laws and Governing Bodies:

This sector has highly developed legal framework for regulating private participation.

Applicable Laws:

The Electricity Act, 2003 is the Central Law governing the electricity sector. Electricity Act, 2003 gives a framework for restructuring of the state Electricity Boards.

Governing Bodies:

Under Electricity Act, 2003 following are the authorities:

Regulatory authorities:

i)      Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

ii)     State Electricity Regulatory Commission

iii)    Joint Commission

iv)   Appellate Tribunal

Monitoring agencies:

i)      Investigating Authority

ii)     Assessing Officer

iii)    Adjudicating Officer

iv)   Chief Electricity Inspector

v)    Electricity Inspector

Advisory bodies:

i)      Central Advisory Committee

ii)     Selection Committee

iii)    State Advisory Committee

iv)   Coordination Forums

Operational authorities:

i)            Central Electricity Authority

ii)           National Load Dispatch Centre

iii)          Regional Load Dispatch Centre

iv)          State Load Dispatch Centre

v)           Central Transmission Utility

vi)          State Transmission Utility

For further details w.r.t. legal aspects of power projects in India, please click on the link below:

 http://equicorplegal.com/Pdfs/Legal%20Aspects%20of%20Power%20Projects%20in%20India.pdf