Supreme Court of India ends Toshiba’s five-year ordeal, allows company to supply ‘green power’

Ending five long years of torment for Japanese firm Toshiba, the Supreme Court has removed a hurdle to its plan to set up a gas-based power plant in the country’s first eco-city being developed by a consortium led by it in Manesar, Haryana.

The SC upheld an order issued by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) that said the Japanese firm can directly supply “green power” to over 1,000 units in the city, along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), via a ‘shared’ dedicated transmission line.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVNL) and Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam had challenged the HERC order before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel), arguing that Toshiba as a generating company cannot supply electricity to industrial users directly without a valid distribution licence. These entities had contended that the Japanese firm’s proposal was in violation of the Electricity Act, 2003.

Toshiba’s saga for setting up the power plant in the Manesar industrial park has been a long and arduous one, and showed that despite the much-toutedMake-In India campaign, foreign investors continued to face various regulatory and bureaucratic impediments.