Firms branching out to power trading

A host of companies with core competence in varied sectors are planning to foray into power trading. The latest to join the queue for a power trading licence include construction major DLF and steel producer Ispat Ltd.

GMR Infrastructure Ltd, a major player in the roads sector and having exposure in power generation, and Adani Exports have also applied recently to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for a licence.

The applications of DLF and Ispat, along with those of the Power Trading Corporation, Reliance Energy Trading and the National Thermal Power Corporation's trading subsidiary, are slated to come up for hearing before the CERC on April 27.

The Tatas, Essar Group, Koyela Energy Resources Pvt Ltd and Amalgamated Transpower Ltd have also applied for a trading licence. Global Energy Ltd, another private player, has started trading power between Goa and Delhi.

While Reliance Trading has applied for permission to trade in electricity in all states except Jammu and Kashmir, Amalgamated Transpower, which has a paid-up capital of Rs 3 crore, is negotiating with the governments of Sikkim, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

Since 1999, the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) has been the sole entity for trading power among states. Following the passage of the Electricity Act 2003, CERC has opened up the sector.

The regulator has come out with the draft guidelines for inter-state power trading, under which six categories of trading licencees have been specified. The categories have been formed after factoring in the volume of electricity proposed to be traded by the applicant. The net worth requirements range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 25 crore.

The regulator has also prescribed two basic types of bilateral contracts -- between power generators and traders and between traders and distribution licencees.

The licence fee to be paid by applicants depend on the category for which they have applied, and ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

Each licence will have a tenure of 25 years, with the regulator reserving the right to change the trading margins.

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Power norms

• Six categories of trading licencees have been specified
• The net worth requirements range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 25 cr
• Each licence will have a tenure of 25 years
• The licence fee ranges between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 15 lakh