SC issues notice to Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a reply from the Centre and GAIL on petitions filed by GVK Power and Infrastructure and its company Gautami Power seeking steady supply of gas for their Rs 1,450-crore power plant that has been lying idle since September 2006.
A bench headed by Justice B.N. Agarwal issued notices to respondents including the AP government, asking them to submit replies to the petitions. Gautami Power had moved the apex court challenging an order of the division bench of the AP High Court that dismissed its application. The firm had sought continuous supply of 1.96 mmscpd of gas from GAIL for commissioning and operating its 360 MW power project near Secunderabad. The High Court had earlier allowed gas supply for only 19 weeks for commissioning the plant.
While seeking continuous supply of gas for at least nine weeks, Gautami had said the state was deliberately delaying the commissioning of its power project and purchasing electricity from outside at a steep price of Rs 6 per unit. The State had "unjustifiably and unreasonably" ignored its repeated requests and withheld its recommendations and had asked GAIL to supply gas to another power generating company Vemagiri Power Generation, the company said.
"Any further delay would result in not just cost escalation but actual abandonment of technology supplier (Alstom Projects India), thereby rendering all warranties and guarantees completely ineffectual," the petition said.