Chandigarh, Feb. 1 -- The Haryana government on Friday mandated a high powered committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge to find an "amicable solution for all the pending claims and counter claims" made by Adani Power Ltd (APL) and state's power distribution companies. The committee will examine and resolve issues relating to the power purchase agreements (PPA) and supplementary power purchase agreement (SPPA) of Adani Power Limited. The move widely seen as one to find a possible way to cushion APL's financial distress entailed "analysing and ascertaining any hardship faced by Adani Power Limited", according to a January 30, 2026 notification issued by the energy department. As per the notification outlining the terms of reference of the high powered committee, it would look into the mode and manner for mitigating the hardship faced by APL duly considering the actual costs incurred by the latter for delivery of power at Haryana periphery as compared to the quoted energy charge rate under the PPA. The committee is headed by former SC judge, justice Krishna Murari with former central electricity authority (CEA) chairman, SD Dubey and former IAS officer, TC Gupta as members. Haryana's two power distribution companies had in August 2008 entered into PPAs with APL for 712 MW each at a levelised tariff of Rs.2.94 per unit for 25 years for procurement of 1424 MW from the APL's generating units 7, 8 and 9 at Mundra in Gujarat as per the PPA. The said PPAs were executed in pursuance to a tariff based competitive bidding process initiated by Haryana power utilities under Section 63 of the Electricity Act as per the central government guidelines. The APL had stopped power supply in September 2021 on the ground of suffering losses in view of higher operational costs due to increased rate of imported coal. It sought a renegotiation of the PPA and related issues, especially seeking complete pass through of imported coal costs. Following negotiations with APL, Haryana Council of Ministers headed by then chief minister, ML Khattar had on June 27, 2022 approved inking of a SPPA with APL for supply of about 1090 MW power generated from domestic coal at Rs.3.20 per unit (agreed tariff of Rs.2.94 plus about 26 paisa). The Council of Ministers also decided withdrawal of all pending cases, appeals and claims pertaining to the PPA before various forums. The state government had also decided to make a payment of about Rs.2,600 crore to APL following the withdrawal of pending litigation. While additional chief secretary, power, Shyamal Mishra didn't respond to calls and text messages, power department sources said that APL had given a representation to the CM objecting to the levy of penalties by Haryana power utilities for being in default of the PPA. The signing of the supplementary PPA was to follow with relinquishment of certain claims of Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) against APL for not supplying contracted power in the past. "There is a demand notice for Rs.1,144 crore on account of shortfall in the power availability and APL is in default in terms of Article 14 of the PPA during the period May 2021 to April 2022. The HPPC has also raised claims of additional cost of Rs.982 crore (till March 2022) incurred by it for purchase of power from alternate sources because of non-supply by the APL," power officials told HT. As per the notification, the high powered committee constituted to examine the PPAs and SPPA, should examine and analyse all relevant documents related to the units 7, 8 and 9 of APL's Mundra thermal power plant. The committee will call HPPC and APL for submission of details or clarification as required by it. It will also look into rights and obligations of APL and Haryana power companies in relation to the payment security mechanism under the PPAs besides examining the viability of PPAs with existing tariff structure and suggest mitigation measures to ensure long term viability. "The high-power committee shall, after due examination, finalise its recommendations, preferably within a period of 180 days,'' said the notification. The state government had in 2021 came under fire for going soft on APL by not enforcing the supply of 1,424 MW of contracted power to Haryana, thus adding to the state's power shortage. The APL which has a contract with Haryana government since 2008 for supplying 1,424 MW power from its Mundra power project at a levelised tariff of Rs.2.94 per unit for 25 years, has consistently defaulted on supplying power for several months. It took a plea that the increase in the price of imported coal has made generation at the PPA tariff uneconomical. However, the Supreme Court in its April 11, 2017 order had disallowed the enactment of Indonesian regulation (which as per APL led to an increase in the imported coal price) as change in law or force majeure as per the PPA. The power utilities had on June 14, 2021 served a preliminary default notice to APL under Article 14 of the PPA for not achieving the required average availability....