On the anvil is auction of power transmission contracts worth Rs 8,000 crore soon

New Delhi: The government will soon auction power transmission contracts worth Rs 8,000 crores connecting renewable energy projects in western and northern states, while decision on lines worth Rs 5,500 crore will be taken later. The timeline for implementing the projects has been compressed to 18 months and September 2020 has been set as the target completion date for some projects. While the move has been welcomed by power transmission companies, they have asked the government to halve the auction timeline from 140 days to 70 days.

Private sector firms such as Tata Power, Adani Power Transmission, L&T Infra, Torrent Power, Kalpataru Power Transmission and Megha Engineering had earlier bid for such contracts.

According to the minutes of a meeting of National Committee on Transmission held on December 4, contracts totalling about Rs 3,500 crore have been awarded on nomination basis to Power Grid Corp (PGCIL). Private sector firms such as Tata Power, Adani Power Transmission, L&T Infra, Torrent Power, Kalpataru Power Transmission and Megha Engineering had earlier bid for such contracts.

The companies have also said the government can auction transmission lines instead of deferring them and a green signal can be given later to the selected company to match the schedule of generation projects.

The committee deferred the Rs 5,500-crore contracts due to lack of clarity on the status of the renewable energy generation plants. Electric Power Transmission Association has asked for auction of these projects.