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Torrent Power has pipped Reliance Industries to emerge as the lowest bidder for supply of 1,100-megawatts of gas-based power supply sought by the Indian government to meet anticipated record demand in the summer, two sources said. Torrent Power quoted 13.70 rupees per unit price for supply of 770-megawatts each for 45 days in April and May from two of its gas-based projects in the western state of Gujarat, the sources said.

Uttarakhand-based Gama Infraprop quoted 14.9 rupees per unit, while RIL quoted 20.5 rupees per unit for supply of 1010-megawatts, they said on condition of anonymity since the contracts have yet to be awarded.

"The government is likely to award contracts for 1,100-megawatts to Torrent Power," one of the officials said.

NTPC, Reliance Industries and Torrent Power did not reply immediately to Reuters' request for comment.

The bidding was conducted by NVVN Ltd, the power trading arm of India's largest power producer NTPC Ltd. NVVN Ltd, acting on the power ministry's directions, had invited bids for 5,000-megawatt power supply from gas-based power plants.

As per the bid documents, NVVN will buy the power from the selected bidder from April 10 to May 16, 2023. The company will sell the power in the spot markets to increase power availability. The under-recovery will be bridged by the federal power ministry through its Power System Development Fund (PSDF). India expects its maximum demand to peak at 230-gigawatts this year and is taking various measures to avert power cuts. The government has brought forward maintenance at some coal-fired power plants and secured extra NTPC gas-fired capacity. However, about 24-gigawatts of its gas-based power generation capacity remains underutilised due to a lack of fuel.