PGCIL bags Rs 4,200 cr transmission project

Plan to invite bids dropped to keep date with Commonwealth Games.

The government has decided to give one of the two mega transmission projects, which were planned to be put up for international competitive bidding, to Power Grid Corporation of India, the country's main transmission utility.

The Rs 4,200 crore transmission project to evacuate power from Maithon-Bokaro was needed urgently in view of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, being hosted by Delhi.

"It is a generation linked project and evacuation facilities need to be ready before 2010," said a senior power ministry official, explaining why the bidding route was avoided.

Confirming the move, a senior Power Grid official said on condition of anonymity that Power Grid was the only firm which had the experience and expertise to set up such projects.

The Maithon-Bokaro mega transmission project was to be put up on tariff-based competitive bidding along with the Rs 1,800 crore Eastern-Northern interconnection system, by the Power Finance Corporation (PFC).

These two projects are part of the 14 transmission links identified by the government for tariff-based competitive bidding on the lines of ultra mega power projects. PFC and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) are the nodal agencies for these projects.

This project is expected to set up an evacuation system for wheeling power from the 1,000-Mw Maithon, 1,000-Mw Kodarma, 1,000-Mw Mejia and 500-Mw Bokaro power plants in Jharkhand and West Bengal. The total length of the grid lines is expected to be around 1,500 circuit-kilometres.

The Eastern-Northern interconnection system involves putting up interconnection links for exporting of surplus power from the north-eastern and eastern regions to the northern region.

The total length of the grid lines to be laid is around 500 circuit-kilometres and the target date of completion for this is 2010-2011.

Both of these projects were to be awarded by year-end, but even the request for qualification (RFQ) has not been issued so far.

"The government wanted to incorporate some changes and additional inputs from the ultra mega power projects, which resulted in an inordinate delay," said an official close to the process.

The RFQ process for the other project is likely to start by mid-November and the award of the project would take place by the middle of next year, said the official.

These large transmission projects are to be awarded to developers on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis after the bidding process.

PFC had already set up special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for the two transmission projects.

The SPVs would look into issues such as carrying out initial and detailed surveys and feasibility reports, obtaining transmission licence, obtaining right of way, site identification and land compensation, prior to the award of these projects to developers.

About 40 companies had evinced interest in these two projects, which included international firms like AES Corporation, China Light and Power, Spanish firm Isolux Corsan and Canadian firm SNC Lavalin, besides Indian players like Reliance Energy Transmission, RPG Transmission Ltd and GMR Energy.