India needs $80-bn investments in next 5 years for grid transmission infra

India has expanded transmission network capacity at a compound annual growth rate of 12% over 5 years between 2012-13 and 2017-18

India needs $60-80 billion investments over the next five years to strengthen its grid transmission infrastructure. The scale of investments envisaged is needed to address the continued structural growth in power demand and overcome operational limitations of the country’s national transmission grid, a study by US-based Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA) suggested.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or Saubhagya scheme, the central government has successfully electrified 99 per cent of the households. As a follow-up, there is an urgent need for considerable investments in grid transmission infrastructure to keep pace with growing low-cost