Govt to exempt duty on existing plants

Existing mega power plants may be exempted from paying customs duty on imported equipment for which orders have already been placed, reports suggest. The exemption aimed at ensuring that projects with mega status continued to get the incentive since they had already placed orders and signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with distribution companies based on certain cost assumptions. This may benefit major private power generation companies such as Reliance Power, Essar Power, Lanco, KSK Mahanadi, GMR and Monnet Ispat.