In the exercise of powers conferred under section 178 of the Electricity Act,

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-12042025-262433 EXTRAORDINARY PART III-Section 4 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 293] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2025/CHAITRA 21, 1947 CENTRAL ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 4th February, 2025 No. L-1/268/2022/CERC—In the exercise of powers conferred under section 178 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) read with Section 61 thereof and all other powers enabling it in this behalf, and after previous publication, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission hereby makes the following regulations to amend the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2024 as amended from time to time (hereinafter referred to as "the Principal Regulations"). 1. Short Title and Commencement 1.1. These regulations may be called the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2025. 1.2. These regulations shall come into force from 1.4.2024. 2. Amendment of Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations 2.1 Sub-regulation (9A) shall be added after sub-regulation (9) of Regulation 3 as under:- "Bank Rate" means the one year Marginal cost of the lending rate as specified by the State Bank of India from time to time or any replacement thereof for the time being in force plus 100 basis points." 3. Amendment of Regulations 9 & 10 of the Principal Regulations 3.1 In sub-regulations (5) of Regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions "at the simple interest rate of 1-year SBI MCLR plus 100 basis points" shall be substituted by the words "at the bank rate". 3.2 In sub-regulation (3) of Regulation 10, the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions " 1 year SBI MCLR plus 100 basis points" shall be substituted by the words "the bank rate". 3.3 In sub-regulations (6) of Regulation 10, the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions "the 1 year SBI MCLR plus 100 basis points" shall be substituted by the words "the bank rate." 3.4 In sub-regulation (7) of Regulation 10, the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions “of the rate worked out on the basis of 1 year SBI MCLR plus 100 basis points" shall be substituted by the words “the bank rate." 4. Amendment of Regulation 36 of the Principal Regulations 4.1 In the first proviso to clause (d) of sub-regulation (3) of Regulation 36 of the Principal Regulations, the number "0.09%" shall be substituted by the number "0.12%". 4.2 The following proviso shall be added after the second proviso to clause (d) of sub-regulation (3) of Regulation 36 of the Principal Regulations:- "Provided that the self-insurance premium shall be transferred to a separate fund for utilization to meet the claims, and the expenditure incurred or amount utilized from the self-insurance fund shall be made available to the Commission as and when directed." 5. Amendment of Regulation 37 of the Principal Regulations 5.1 The proviso under sub-regulation (2) of Regulation 37 of the Principal Regulations shall be substituted by the following provisos:- "Provided that the generating company may request an interim input price in its petition, which may be allowed by the Commission up to 90% of the claimed input price after the first hearing of the application; Provided further that the difference between the input price of coal determined under these regulations and the input price of coal either adopted by the generating company in terms of this sub- regulation or the interim input price allowed by the Commission under the first proviso to this sub- regulation shall be recoverable or payable in accordance with sub-regulation (4) of this Regulation." 5.2 In sub-regulation (4) of Regulation 37 of the Principal Regulations and the second proviso thereunder, the words and expressions "1-year SBI MCLR plus 100 basis points" shall be substituted by the words "the bank rate." 6. Amendment of Regulation 50 of the Principal Regulations 6.1 In the first proviso to sub-regulation (1) of Regulation 50 of the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions "based on the notified price of Coal India Limited for the commensurate grade of coal in a month, prior consent of the beneficiary(ies) shall be required to be obtained by the generating company;" shall be substituted by "based on the price of alternative coal available to the station in a given month, the generating company shall obtain prior consent from the beneficiary(ies);." 6.2 In the second proviso to sub-regulation (1) of Regulation 50 of the Principal Regulations, the words and expressions "based on the notified price of Coal India Limited for the commensurate grade of coal in a month", shall be substituted by "based on the price of alternative coal available to the station in a given month". 6.3 In the sub-regulation (1) of Regulation 50 of the Principal Regulations, the following explanation is inserted : "Explanation: The alternative coal for the generating station will be the sourcing of coal from an arrangement that could have been made by the generating company in case of a shortage or non-availability of coal from the linked integrated mine and offers the least cost arrangement in comparison to all other available options." 7. Amendment of Regulation 51 of the Principal Regulations 7.1 Regulation 51 of the Principal Regulations shall be substituted by the following:- "51. Adjustment on account of Shortfall of Overburden Removal (OB Adjustment): (1) The generating company shall remove overburden as specified in the Mining Plan. (2) In case of a shortfall or excess of overburden removal during a year, the generating company shall be allowed to adjust such shortfall or excess, as the case may be, if any, during the remaining years of the tariff period till 31.3.2029. Provided that - a) the excess overburden as on 31.3.2029, if any, on account of the reasons not attributable to the generating company, shall be allowed to be carried forward beyond the end of the tariff period at the time of true up of the input price; b) the generating company shall submit the details of the adjustment of overburden at the end of the tariff period for the purpose of truing up. (3) Where the overburden removed in a year is less than the overburden to be removed as per the year wise schedule of extraction given in the mine plan, the adjustment on account of the shortfall of overburden removal (“OB Adjustment") for that year shall be worked out as under:- a) If Mine Developer and Operator is appointed:- OB Adjustment = [ Factor of adjustment for a shortfall of overburden removal during the year] x [Mining Charge during the year] b) If Mine Developer and Operator is not appointed:- OB Adjustment = [Factor of adjustment for a shortfall of overburden removal during the year] x [ Operation and Maintenance expenses of the mining activity during the year] Where, i) Factor of adjustment for the shortfall of overburden removal during the year shall be computed as under:- [(Annual Stripping ratio as per mining plan) - (Actual Stripping ratio based on the actual quantity of coal and overburden removed during the year )] / (1+Annual Stripping Ratio as per Mining Plan); ii) Annual Stripping ratio is the ratio of the volume of overburden to be removed for one unit of coal or lignite as specified in the Mining Plan. iii) Mining Charge is the quoted charge per tonne of coal or lignite paid by the generating company to the Mine Developer and Operator engaged by the generating company for mining, wherever applicable, without the OB adjustment as per contract with the Mine Developer and Operator. iv) Mining Charge and Operation and Maintenance expenses shall be in terms of Rupees per tonne corresponding to the stripping ratio and annual quantity of coal and overburden as per the mining plan. v) Operation and Maintenance expenses of the mining activity shall be the Operation and Maintenance expenses considered in the annual extraction cost in Regulation 43 of these regulations and excluding the Operation and Maintenance expenses related to crushing, transportation, washing, and handling in sub-regulation (1) of Regulation 40 of these regulations. vi) Where the generating company has engaged the Mine Developer and Operator for mining and the OB Adjustment is carried out as per the contract with the Mine Developer and Operator, the net OB adjustment as per this regulation shall be computed on the basis of the difference between the OB adjustment as per Regulation 51(3) of this regulation and the OB adjustment as per the contract of the generating company with the Mine Developer and Operator: Provided that if the OB adjustment as per the contract with the Mine Developer and Operator exceeds the OB adjustment as per Regulation 51(3), the OB adjustment shall be treated as NIL. (4) The provisions of this Regulation regarding adjustment on account of shortfall or excess overburden removal, as the case may be, shall not be applicable in case of the integrated mine(s) allocated through an auction route under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015." 8. Amendment of Regulation 55 of the Principal Regulations. 8.1 In Regulation 55, the words " Ministry of Coal, Government of India" shall be substituted by the words "the Central Government ". 9. Amendment of Regulation 64 of the Principal Regulations. 9.1 In the Second proviso to clause (d) of sub-regulation (3) of Regulation 64 of the Principal Regulations, the words and expression “clause (5)” shall be substituted by “clause(6)". 10. Amendment of Regulation 70 of the Principal Regulations 10.1 In Clause (b) of Regulation 70(A) of the Principal Regulations, the words “ or thereafter, except those covered under clauses (c), (d) and (e);" shall be added after the words "as on 31.03.2024". 10.1 In Clause (b) of Regulation 70(B), the Principal Regulations, the words " or thereafter" shall be added after the words "as on 31.03.2024". 10.2 In Regulation 70(E) of the Principal Regulations - a) In the table of Clause (b), the value of auxiliary consumption as “9.50% in the second row in the table in respect of Chandrapur TPS (2x250 MW) (DVC) shall be substituted as "9.80%”; b) Under sub-clause (iii) of clause (d), the words "TPS-I (Expansion)" shall be substituted as "TPS-II (Expansion)". 10.3 Clause (G) shall be added after Clause (F) of Regulation 70 of the Principal Regulations as follows:- "(G) Compensation for the operation of generating station below normative plant availability factor (1) The generating stations whose tariff is determined by the Commission under Section 62 of the Act shall be compensated for degradation of station heat rate and auxiliary energy consumption, consumption of additional secondary fuel oil due to loading below the normative plant availability factor specified under Regulation 70(A) of these regulations. (2) The compensation for degradation under regulation (1) of this regulation shall be borne by the entity that has caused the plant to be operated at a schedule lower than the corresponding Normative Plant Availability Factor. (3) The compensation for the station heat rate and auxiliary energy consumption shall be worked out in terms of energy charge rate. (4) For the purpose of compensation under regulation (1) of this regulation, the degradation of gross station heat rate (SHR) over and above the norms specified under Regulation 70(C) of these regulations shall be considered as under:- a) For coal or lignite based generating stations:- +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | Sr. | Unit loading as a % of Installed | Increase in SHR (for sub- | Increase in SHR (for super | | No. | Capacity of the Unit | critical units) % | critical units) % | +=====+===================================+===================================+====================================+ | 1. | 85-100 | Nil | Nil | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 2. | 80-<85 | 2.1 | 1.8 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 3. | 75-<80 | 3.0 | 2.5 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 4. | 70 - <75 | 4.0 | 3.3 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 5. | 65 - <70 | 5.1 | 4.1 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 6. | 60 - <65 | 6.1 | 4.9 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 7. | 55- <60 | 7.6 | 6.0 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 8. | 50-<55 | 9.2 | 7.1 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 9. | 45 - <50 | 11.3 | 8.3 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | 10. | 40 - <45 | 13.8 | 9.9 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------+ b) For gas or liquid fuel based generating stations:- (i) Module/ plant operating in CCGT mode: +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Sr. | Module/ plant loading as % of installed capacity | Increase in SHR (for module/ plant) (%) | | No. | | | +=====+=============================================+=====================================+ | 1. | 85-100 | Nil | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 2. | 80-<85 | 2.5 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 3. | 70 - <80 | 5 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 4. | 60 - <70 | 8 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 5. | 50 - <60 | 12 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ (ii) Module/plant operating in Open Cycle mode: +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Sr. | Module/ plant loading as % of installed capacity | Increase in SHR (for module/ plant) (%) | | No. | | | +=====+=============================================+=====================================+ | 1. | 85-100 | Nil | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 2. | 80-<85 | 3 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 3. | 70-<80 | 7 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 4. | 60 - <70 | 11 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 5. | 50 - <60 | 16 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ (5) For the purpose of compensation under regulation (1) of this regulation, the degradation of auxiliary energy consumption (AEC) over and above the norms specified under Regulation 70(E) of these regulations shall be considered as under:- a) For coal or lignite based generating stations: +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Sr. | Unit loading as a % of Installed Capacity | % degradation in AEC admissible | | No. | | | +=====+===================================+================================-----+ | 1. | 85-100 | Nil | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 2. | 80-<85 | 0.5 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 3. | 70-<80 | 1.1 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 4. | 60 - <70 | 1.8 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 5. | 50 - <60 | 2.5 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 6. | 40 - <50 | 3.2 | +-----+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ b) For gas or liquid based generating stations: +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Sr. | Module/ plant loading as % of installed capacity | % degradation in AEC admissible | | No. | | | +=====+=============================================+================================-----+ | 1. | 85-100 | Nil | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 2. | 80 - <85 | 0.25 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 3. | 70-<80 | 0.50 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 4. | 60 - <70 | 0.80 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 5. | 50 - <60 | 1.20 | +-----+---------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ (6) The additional compensation for secondary fuel oil consumption shall be permissible over and above seven (7) starts/stops in a year for the generating station under Unit Shutdown in terms of Regulation 47 of the Grid Code Regulations 2023. For the purpose of compensation under regulation (1) of this regulation, the secondary fuel oil consumption per start up shall be considered based on the following norms or actual, whichever is lower:- +----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Unit Size (MW) | Secondary fuel oil consumption per start up (K1) | | +--------+--------+--------+ | | Hot | Warm | Cold | +======================+========+========+========+ | 200/210/250 MW | 20 | 40 | 60 | +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+ | 500 MW | 30 | 60 | 100 | +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+ | 660 MW | 45 | 75 | 130 | +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+ | 800 MW | 60 | 80 | 150 | +----------------------+--------+--------+--------+ Additional specific secondary fuel oil consumption of 0.2 ml/ kWh shall be provided for units operating below 55% unit loading and for Supercritical or ultra-supercritical units, a 10% extra quantity of start-up oil shall be provided for a period of 3 years from the Date of Commercial Operation (CoD), due to teething or stabilization issues. (7) The financial gains computed, after taking into account compensation, over and above the actual energy charges shall be shared between the generating station and the beneficiaries in the ratio of 1:1. in accordance with the procedure to be issued by NLDC with the approval of the Commission. (8) There shall be a reconciliation of the compensation at the end of the financial year considering actual weighted average operational parameters of station heat rate, auxiliary energy consumption and secondary oil consumption. (9) The change in the schedule of power under the provisions of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Ancillary Services Operations) Regulations, 2022 shall not be considered for compensation. (10) Procedure stipulating the mechanism to work out the compensation for degradation of heat rate, auxiliary consumption, and secondary fuel oil consumption due to part load operation and multiple start and stop of units of the generating station shall be issued by the NLDC separately with the approval of the Commission." 11. Amendment of Regulation 71 of the Principal Regulations a) In the table in Clause (4) of Regulation 71(A) of the Principal Regulations, the NAPAF (%) of the station Rangit is indicated in the fifteenth row, Dulhasti is indicated in the seventeenth row and Karcham Wangtoo is indicated in the last row of the table as "90" shall be substituted by "87"; HARPREET SINGH PRUTHI, Secy. [ADVT.-III/4/Exty./25/2025-26] Note: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) Regulations, 2024 were published vide notification No. No. L-1/268/2022/CERC dated 15th March 2024 in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III-Section 4. No. 468 dated 1st July 2024.