More pvt firms needed in power transmission: Advisory Group

An advisory group has said that there should be private participation in power transmission sector.
Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal, and Renewable Energy chaired by Suresh Prabhu (Union Minister for Railways) in its report to the Ministry of Power, stressed on need for private participation in power transmission sector.
Private firms account for 35 per cent in power generation as against only 3 per cent in transmission. "This needs to be enhanced," said the group in the report.
It also suggested that bidding for transmission projects should be expedited, the time period for clearances should be shortened and the transfer of SPVs (special purpose vehicles) should be done within three months.

Prepare a list for the projects to be opened up for development by public and pvt players at the earliest. Prepare long term transmission plan and monitor progress, availability of transmission infrastructure should be ahead of power generation.
The group also suggested that the mechanism to identify critical transmission constraints, formulate specific projects and have them executed in the most effective manner, should be put in place.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority and Power Grid Corporation would need to interact on a regular basis through institutionalised mechanism due to unpredictable nature of renewable energy.

Other suggestions made by the group include enhancement of coal production in short, medium and long terms. It has called for improvement in Coal India and its subsidiaries.
It added that opening up of the coal sector may be necessary to supplement in a significant way the domestic production by Coal India and a few other companies.