| Work Detail |
In an ongoing case, Astonfield Solar (Gujarat) Pvt. Ltd., now operating as Kundan Solar (Astonfield) Pvt. Ltd., filed an Interim Application with the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) seeking amendments to its petition. The petitioner requested changes due to issues that surfaced after initial filing, including the need to reflect the company’s name change and to clarify agreements with the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL). Specifically, the petitioner entered a Supplemental Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with GUVNL to formalize this name change.
The petitioner also sought amendments related to operational challenges encountered since 2015, such as flood damages impacting solar panel performance, which they claim required equipment replacement that GUVNL restricted without adequate explanation. Consequently, the petitioner believes these circumstances warrant extending the initial contract’s terms.
In response, GUVNL objected to these requests, asserting that any relief based on events from 2015 would be legally time-barred, as the petitioner is raising these issues several years later. GUVNL emphasized that such amendments are inadmissible if they introduce new causes or alter the petition’s scope significantly. GUVNL also challenged the petitioner’s claim of “force majeure,” noting that no official notice of this was issued within the stipulated seven-day period, thus rendering this argument invalid.
Citing a recent decision, GUVNL highlighted that notice of such events must be timely for them to qualify under contractual force majeure clauses, arguing that the petitioner failed to meet these requirements and did not act with due diligence when notifying GUVNL of flood damages.
The Commission must now assess the validity of these arguments. GUVNL referenced past rulings that prevent claimants from amending petitions to introduce new facts or extend expired limitations without a clear, immediate reason. They argue that Kundan Solar’s claims around panel replacement and timeline extensions diverge from the PPA terms, and they suggest the amendments aim to recover financial losses that GUVNL believes the petitioner could have mitigated earlier. Kundan Solar, however, maintains that their requests are justified by external factors and delays tied to force majeure events and insolvency proceedings. The Commission’s ruling will hinge on whether it accepts Kundan Solar’s retrospective claim of force majeure and permits the requested amendment for extending PPA terms to recover operational losses. |
