The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has reportedly issued new norms which limit connectivity to inter-State network, and hence, are likely to pose problems for small hydro projects and captive units. The CERC's "Eligibility for connectivity to inter-State Transmission System" regulations, dated 7 August 2009, have been operationalised from 1 January 2010.

The new regulations specify that a generating station having an installed capacity of less than 250 MW will not be eligible for seeking connectivity with the inter-State transmission system, even if the developer is prepared to lay a dedicated line up to the grid pooling point.

Projects that could be affected include small hydro stations, including a number of private sector plants coming up in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as most captive units having surplus power.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has now intervened and asked the CERC to modify the regulations to facilitate connectivity of these smaller generation stations to the grid.

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has proposed tariff structure for procurement of power by distribution licensee from biomass and bagasse based power generators.

The GERC has proposed a tariff for purchase of biomass based power at Rs 4.25 per unit for the initial 10 years starting from the date of commercial operation of the project and Rs 4.50 per unit from the 11th year to 12th year.

As far as the purchase of bagasse-based power project is concerned, the commission has proposed a tariff of Rs 4.50 per unit for the initial 10 years starting from the date of commercial operation of the project and Rs 4.90 unit from the 11th year to 20th year.

The NHAI has tightened norms for awarding projects to sub-contractors in order to maintain the quality of road being built.

The new clause states that sub-contractors, engaged by a concessionaire, must have the experience of completing at least a single highway project of 20 per cent value of the estimated project cost in the preceding five years from the date of execution of the current work.

For example, a concessionaire can award projects worth Rs 1,000 crore to a sub-contractor, if only the sub-contractor has done a project worth Rs 200 crore in the last five years.