States face power deficit as Power Grid delays transmission lines

Even as Power Grid Corporation gets big-ticket transmission projects from the government, about 15 major transmission lines are pending with the company.

In most cases, the commissioning date has been extended by at least three years. For transmission corridors scheduled to have been readied by 2012, commissioning has been postponed to the end of this year or early next year.

The company has told the government securing land for sub-stations and right of way for laying transmission lines is extremely difficult in certain areas. Among the delayed inter-regional transmission lines are those connecting thermal power plant sites in Vindhayachal, Bokaro and Rihand. The line connecting Solapur and Pune, an important link for southern India, has also been delayed.

The recent synchronisation of the southern grid with the national one awaits the commissioning of transmission corridors, which will connect it to areas in Jharkhand and Odisha that have many coal-based thermal power plants.

Between April and August, Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for about half the delayed projects, recorded peak power supply deficit of 15 per cent. Owing to transmission bottlenecks, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh recorded supply deficits of 2.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively.

Many said Powergrid kept getting securing projects because it was easy for the state utility to acquire land, as it was perceived as a government company. Recently, the power ministry awarded a large transmission corridor projects to PGCIL on a nomination basis, despite plans to carry out competitive bidding.

After the implementation of the new land acquisition Act, it has become more difficult for private companies to acquire capital for setting up new projects. According to estimates, PowerGrid already has an order book of Rs 1.30 lakh crore. At the current rate of project delivery, it will take about seven years for it to exhaust its pipeline.

“PowerGrid’s track record in timely delivery has been dismal and more than 90 per cent of its projects are delayed by 6-30 months. This is a major setback for the millions of domestic and industrial consumers in the south India, who are hoping to buy cheap power from pithead-based power plants of Chhattisgarh and Odisha,” said a senior executive of a private power transmission company.