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| Power transfer firms to get policy boost |
| P B Jayakumar / Mumbai Apr 19, 2009, 00:18 IST |
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In a move to privatise the power transmission sector for attracting major investments, the Ministry of Power will come out with detailed guidelines within a month. It will help leading private power companies such as Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, JSW Energy, Lanco Infratech and GMR Energy enter the power transmission sector on a large scale.
“The norms, which are being finalised, will elaborate how the private sector can participate in the transmission sector with viable returns on investment, and will set transparent bidding guidelines. Tariffs for various projects will be determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and other stakeholders as is done in the case of private participation in power generation,” Devendra Singh, joint secretary, Ministry of Power, told Business Standard on the sidelines of a press conference.
Though the government had not finalised any cap on private sector participation in the sector, it could go up to 100 per cent, he added.
India has set an ambitious target of 100,000 Mw of capacity addition by 2012. Transmission systems related to this will require an investment of over Rs75,000 crore.
Investments required for generation, transmission and distribution are estimated to be close to Rs 11 lakh crore. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), the government is spending over Rs 28,000 crore in the 11th Plan period to electrify rural villages.
Besides, the government is implementing a Rs 52,000 crore programme to improve and modernise the power transmission and distribution network under the re-structured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) during the Plan period. Many private sector players are participating in both the schemes.
At present, the public sector firm, PowerGrid, one of the largest transmission utilities in the world, carries over 45 per cent of the total power generated in the country on its inter-state network. The rest is handled by various electricity boards. Singh said the private sector could join hands with PowerGrid and other stakeholders.
Singh said Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) had floated shell companies to help the private sector participate in the transmission and distribution segment.
The government has experimented with private-public partnership in the transmission sector. The first of such project was the Tala transmission project in Bhutan, a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Power Company (TPC) and the state-run PowerGrid Corporation, to evacuate power from the 1,020 Mw Tala hydroelectric power in Bhutan to New Delhi via 1,200 km of transmission lines.
Recently, Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Energy and the Maharashtra government-owned transmission utility, Mahatransco, formed a joint venture, JSW Power Transco Ltd, to set up a Rs 475 crore transmission line that will evacuate power from JSW Energy’s upcoming 1,200-Mw Jaigad coal-fired power project in the coastal Ratnagiri district. JSW Energy (Ratnagiri) Ltd has 74 per cent stake in the project.
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