Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power has secured interim relief from the Delhi High Court for its subsidiary, Reliance NU Suntech, in a dispute with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) over the proposed termination of a power purchase agreement (PPA).

The court has directed that no coercive action be taken against Reliance NU Suntech for now. The order came in response to a Show Cause Notice (SCN) issued by SECI, which had sought to cancel the PPA signed between the two entities.

“Till the next date of hearing, let no coercive action be taken against the petitioner in context of the impugned SCN,” the court said in its order. The matter will next be heard on September 17, 2025.

Share Price of Reliance Power

The share price of Reliance Power opened in the green today after the company made this announcement last night on BSE. The stock saw significant fluctuation, reaching an intraday high of Rs 65.19 at 9:00 AM. 

Reliance NU Suntech challenges SECI’s show cause notice

Reliance NU Suntech had approached the court after receiving a Show Cause Notice from SECI on July 1, 2025. The notice asked why the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed between the company and SECI on April 30, 2025, should not be cancelled. The matter relates to a larger tender issued by SECI for setting up 2,000 MW solar power projects with 1,000 MW/4,000 MWh energy storage systems under tariff-based competitive bidding.

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The petitioner had submitted its bid on September 30, 2024, and deposited a performance bank guarantee of Rs 378 crore before the PPA was signed.

This case linked to earlier dispute involving Reliance affiliate

The issue traces back to SECI’s earlier action against Reliance NU BESS Private Ltd (RNBPL), an affiliate of Reliance Power, which was accused of submitting a forged bank guarantee for a separate project. SECI debarred both RNBPL and Reliance Power on November 6, 2024.

While the Delhi High Court stayed the debarment against Reliance Power, SECI later withdrew it through a public notice on December 3, 2024. Meanwhile, RNBPL also filed a separate writ petition, which is still pending without any interim relief.

Reliance NU Suntech denies any wrongdoing or concealment

In court, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Reliance NU Suntech, argued that SECI’s show-cause notice lacked any specific allegations against the company. He said the tender only required bidders or consortium members—not affiliates like RNBPL—to disclose past transgressions. Since Reliance NU Suntech had no such record and was unaware of the SCN issued to RNBPL at the time of its bid, it could not be held responsible.

SECI says bidder failed to disclose affiliate action

Senior Advocate Bharat Sangal, representing SECI, contended that the petitioner had failed to fully disclose the actions taken against its affiliates while submitting its bid. However, Rohatgi clarified that the SCN to RNBPL was issued on a Friday (September 27, 2024), and Reliance NU Suntech submitted its bid on the following Monday (September 30, 2024). Hence, he argued, it was unreasonable to assume the petitioner had prior knowledge of the notice.

He also stressed that the tender terms did not mandate disclosure of actions against affiliates, and the relevant information was already in SECI’s knowledge.

Court’s observation and interim order

The High Court examined the relevant tender clauses and agreed, at least prima facie, that they only applied to the bidder or members of the bidding consortium. Since RNBPL was neither, the court felt the matter required deeper examination.