The matter in regard to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) seeking transmission licence for two ISTS-TBCB schemes is scheduled to be taken up by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on April 10, 2024.
In a recent order, CERC said that PGCIL has fulfilled all conditions for grant of transmission licence and would now have to issue a public notice seeking comments/suggestions before CERC grants the formal licence. PGCIL would need to file any comments/suggestions received from the public, before CERC, by April 8, 2024.
The two interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes in question are housed under project SPVs –Vataman Transmission Ltd and Bikaner-III Neemrana Transmission Ltd. These two schemes were won by PGCIL under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) route, and the formal transfer of these SPVs took place on December 26, 2023 and December 27, 2023, respectively.
Aggressive bidding
From information available in the CERC orders, it appears that both these projects witnessed very aggressive bidding during the e-reverse auction (e-RA).
In the case of Vataman Transmission, PGCIL was the L1 bidder at the time of opening of initial bids with a quote of Rs.4,600.00 million. Sterlite Power was L2 with Rs.5,489.80 million, followed by Adani Energy Solutions at L3 with Rs.5,577.51 million.
During the e-RA, only PGCIL and Adani Energy Solutions participated. At the end of the e-RA, PGCIL won the project with a quote of Rs.4,018.15 million, closely followed by Adani Energy Solutions with Rs.4,028.23 million. The difference between the final L1 and L2 bid was just 0.25 per cent. What is more interesting to note is that PGCIL lowered its bid by 12.6 per cent between the initial bidding state and post e-RA. The quote of Adani Energy Solutions at the end of the e-RA was as much as 27.8 per cent lower than its initial bid.
In Bikaner III Neemrana Transmission Ltd, four bidders qualified to move to the e-RA stage but only two – PGCIL and Tata Power – actually participated. PGCIL won the project with a final quote of Rs.2,732.69 million that was 13.5 per cent lower than its initial bid of Rs.3,160.00 million. Tata Power was L2 in the post e-RA stage with a quote of Rs.2,739.54 million, nearly 22 per cent lower than its initial price quote of Rs.3,510.00 million.
Sterlite Power and Adani Energy Solutions were qualified at the initial bidding stage to participate in the e-RA but did not do so.
(Note: The “quote” or “bid” discussed in this story relates to levelized annual transmission charges.)
Also read: PGCIL To Form JV For Intrastate Grid Development In Rajasthan
Featured photograph (source: GC) is for representation only.
