Bids for transmission projects worth Rs. 12,000 crore to be invited soon.

The government will soon invite bids for transmission projects estimated to cost about Rs. 12,000 crore. These are part of Rs. 1 lakh crore of investment planned in the sector.

In the pipeline is the Warangal project, estimated to cost around Rs. 9,000 crore. The second project is in Odisha and is estimated cost Rs. 3,000 crore.

According to sources, the government would call bids for the Warangal project in January and those for the Odisha project next month.

The government has already identified six entities that are qualified to bid for the Odisha project: Power Grid Corporation of India, Sterlite Grid, Adani Transmission, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Essel Infraprojects, and a consortium of Gayatri Projects & Megha Engineering & Infrastructures.

The Warangal project is for an additional inter-regional link for transmitting power to the southern region. The Warora-Warangal, Hyderabad-Kurnool 765kV link has been planned to ease energy flow into South India. Grid lines to South India remain congested due to low capacity.

South India faces severe power shortages. Even after the import of about 4000 MW, the regional power deficit is 8.4 per cent, or about 3,270 MW. This situation has arisen mainly due to delays and deferment of generation projects and also because of non-availability of gas for existing gas projects in the region.

ET