SC upholds NTPC stand, clears way for Rs1600-cr orders
16 Feb 2012
Following a Supreme Court ruling today, power equipment makers can look forward to Rs1,600 crore worth of orders from state-run National Thermal Power Corp, the country's biggest power producer.
The Supreme Court overruled a Delhi High Court order upholding the validity of a bid by Ansaldo Caldaie Boilers, which NTPC had rejected two years ago.
Ansaldo Caldaie, a joint venture between Italy's Ansaldo and Gammon India, then took the legal route to uphold its bid.
The Supreme Court has now ruled in favour of NTPC, overturning the earlier high court order in favour of Ansaldo.
Anup Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director of NTPC, told the media that the Supreme Court verdict paves the way for the company to move ahead with awarding the proposed projects.
In early 2010, NTPC had sought bids for 'supercritical' power generation equipment to expand its plants' capacity. Bids were invited for two projects - steam turbine generators (STG) and boilers & turbines (B&T).