Fuel availability, rising cost issues still loom large over major power players

Stagnating production at Coal India and lower gas output at the country's flagship KG-D6 block have led to shortages of fuel used in conventional power plants, forcing power producers to increase imports and driving up costs.

Tata Power chairman and managing director Anil Sardana recently told FE that changes in laws and regulations in coal exporting countries, such as South Africa, Australia and Indonesia, had contributed to the spike in fuel costs. He called the price increases a "well-organised, well-thought process”, hinting at an element of cartelisation.

Power producers have not been able to pass on increased fuel costs to consumers because they had committed to selling electricity under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) at a price which didn't account for higher fuel costs.

Tata Power, India's largest private power company, reported a consolidated net loss of R83.80 crore. It was hit by R250-crore impairment charge for its unit, Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL), the holding company for its 4,000 MW Mundra plant, where it is seeking to renegotiate the tariff to pass on increased costs.

Meanwhile, Adani Power, in which Adani Enterprises currently holds a 68% stake, reported a consolidated net loss of R261 crore against a profit of R173 crore in the year-ago period, hit by higher fuel costs.

Anil Ambani's Reliance Power, however, bucked the trend by trumping

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