In Brief
JSPL, a steel company with a captive power plant, sought a distribution license to supply electricity to industries in its Jindal Industrial Park and two nearby villages in Chhattisgarh. The State Commission granted the license in 2005. The Appellate Tribunal later cancelled it, holding that the minimum area of supply must be an entire revenue district. The Supreme Court set aside the Tribunal's order, holding that 'minimum area of supply' means an area falling within (not comprising the entirety of) a revenue district. JSPL's authorized area—the industrial park plus two villages within Raigarh district—was a lawful minimum area. The Tribunal wrongly applied a non-existent statutory requirement. The Court upheld the Commission's application of mind to the industrial context and State approval.
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