By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A major controversy has erupted over Uttarakhand government’s decision to handover 1320 MW of coal-based thermal power project in Chhattisgarh to Billionaire Gautam Adani owned Adani Power with the Congress alleging that 84 tender conditions were altered to favour the company for which the UJVN-THDC joint venture was shelved.
However, the state government rejected the charge claiming the process was competitive, rule-based and subject to regulatory scrutiny. Adani Power is setting up 1320 Mw thermal project through Tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process after Uttarakhand was allocated coal blocks by the centre in Chhattisgarh.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday alleged that 84 of the 86 bidding conditions were changed during the tender process and claimed that the 25-year power purchase arrangement between the state-owned UPCL and Adani Power could eventually cost electricity consumers nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Khera questioned the government’s decision to abandon an earlier proposal for a 1,320 MW thermal power project to be developed through a joint venture of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) and THDC India Ltd. He alleged that the Union government had given approval to the proposal in July 2024, but the Uttarakhand government dropped it in January 2025, citing the time required for completion.
The Congress leader alleged that UPCL subsequently floated a fresh tender for procurement of 1,320 MW power and that its conditions were repeatedly modified. Khera particularly questioned the provision allowing the generating plant to be located anywhere in India instead of requiring it to be established in Uttarakhand.
He alleged that the revised conditions closely matched the requirements of Adani Power’s project in Korba, Chhattisgarh, and questioned why Uttarakhand should procure power from outside the state and bear the associated transmission costs. Khera described the arrangement as the “Modani model” and demanded cancellation of the agreement and a thorough investigation.
Uttarakhand Principal Secretary (Energy) Dr R. Meenakshi Sundaram, however, rejected the allegations, saying the procurement was intended to meet the state’s long-term requirement for reliable base-load power and was not designed to favour any particular company.
Sundaram said the Ministry of Power’s 2019 Model Bidding Document was a generic framework and that individual projects could require different provisions depending on technology, fuel availability, location and transportation requirements. Suggestions and objections received from prospective bidders were examined, and proposed modifications were placed before the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC), he said.
On the shelving the THDC-UJVN joint venture, Sundram said NTPC has asked THDC not (not) to participate in the coal-based power business. NTPC has recently acquired THDC.
Rejecting the allegation that competition had been eliminated, Sundaram said five companies qualified at the Request for Quotation stage, with competition continuing into the RFP stage. The final selection, he said, was based on the total tariff emerging from competitive bidding.
On the location provision, Sundram said there was no prohibition on establishing a plant in Uttarakhand. Allowing plants anywhere in India would enable bidders to consider coal availability, transportation and other practical factors while offering competitive tariffs. He also disputed the contention that an outside-state plant would automatically impose additional costs on consumers, saying the impact would depend on the overall tariff and applicable transmission arrangements.