In a major legal setback for Vedanta Limited, its subsidiary, Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), has been held liable to pay a penalty of approximately ₹127 crore, along with a late payment surcharge, to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The financial liability follows a landmark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of India.
In a regulatory filing, Vedanta disclosed that the apex court has set aside a previous relief order passed by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). Consequently, the Supreme Court has completely restored the original directive issued by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), which initialed the penal action against the power producer.
The legal dispute traces back to January 2017, when TSPL was found to have violated the State Grid Code through the misdeclaration of its power availability. The Supreme Court ruled that a generating station’s failure to demonstrate its declared electricity capacity constitutes strict civil liability, meaning regulatory bodies do not need to prove deliberate wrongdoing or malicious intent before enforcing penalties.
TSPL operates a 1,980 MW super-critical coal-based thermal power plant at Banawala in Punjab’s Mansa district. Developed on a Build-Own-Operate model, the plant remains highly vital to the region, supplying 100 percent of its generated power to PSPCL and meeting roughly 35 percent of Punjab’s total electricity requirements.
Responding to the final apex court order, Vedanta confirmed that TSPL will fully comply with the judgment and clear the ₹127 crore penalty alongside the mandated late payment surcharges. This legal resolution concludes a multi-year regulatory battle over real-time grid operation fidelity.
