Power Grid to shutdown JV with IL&FS

Power Grid Corporation of India today said it has decided to shutdown its 50:50 joint venture power transmission consultancy business with IL&FS.

"We have decided to make Powergrid IL&FS Transmission (PIPTL) a defunct company and have already filed an application with the RoC to allow us to declare it as a defunct company," PGCIL  Director I S Jha said when asked.

Declining to be identified, sources said the company, which is the third largest transmission company in the country, did not find the expertise provided by IL&FS to the consultancy business up to the mark and accordingly, decided to end the JV. PIPTL was formed just two years ago, in 2008.

Revenue from the consultancy business accounts for 3.6 per cent of PGCIL's revenue.

The Navratna company is in the process of executing a pilot project for the world's first 1,200-Kv transmission line, which will have the capacity to carry upto 6,500 Mw of power.

"We have formed a consortium of 33 vendors to execute 1,200-kv lines and after pilot is success, first project of 320 km connecting Aurangabad will be executed," Jha said.

This high tension line would cost around Rs 2.5 crore per km, as against Rs 1.25-1.5 crore for traditional 400-kv lines.

Speaking about plans to lease out the transmission towers for telecom infrastructure, Jha said tendering was underway to lease out towers in the states of Punjab, Harayana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and bids would be opened on November 22. Six or seven service providers and tower infrastructure companies have shown interest in the tender, he added.

The company will require Rs 22,649.39 crore to meet the capital requirement the implementation of 12 identified projects.

The transmission projects are expected to enhance the length of the power distribution network in the country by 18,711 circuit kilometres.

The company will also pump Rs 58,000 crore during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) into nine transmission corridors for evacuation of power for private power projects.

Meanwhile, Power Grid's follow-on public offer, which opened today, received a healthy response and was oversubscribed 1.08 times.