With a standing of nearly three decades G R Infraprojects Ltd (GRIL) is a leading infrastructure EPC player and developer, traditionally focusing on roads & highways, tunnels, railways and metro projects. Very recently, GRIL entered the power transmission development space by clinching an interstate transmission scheme, under the competitive bidding route. In this exchange, we have Ashwin Agarwal, Business Unit Head – Power Transmission, G R Infraprojects Ltd, expounding on GRIL’s foray in power transmission. Ashwin is confident that power transmission can potentially be a growth driver for GRIL, in the years to come.
As we understand, G R Infraprojects has traditionally been engaged in roadways and highway projects. What inspired the diversification into the power transmission development space?
India is at the helm of energy revolution and is well placed for energy diversification. With the government giving much impetus on the green energy segment, India now has a great opportunity ahead to shape its energy mix.
Supportive government policies, coupled with investment opportunities in the power infrastructure are playing a key role in supporting economic growth of the country through renewable energy.
G R Infraprojects Ltd has a rich legacy of 28 years in infrastructure space. Power being one of the most promising sectors for asset development thought of diversifying into, power transmission came into the picture. We have the set-up and this foray represents parallel corporate growth.
There is much synergy between GRIL’s existing businesses and the power sector. Backed by strong financial positioning and capacity to monetize assets, we are confident that we can bid for substantial projects in the sector.
What is the broad current status of the ISTS project housed under “Rajgarh Transmission Ltd”? In particular, has CERC granted the transmission licence?
Yes, currently, we are executing a project, “Rajgarh Transmission Ltd” in Madhya Pradesh. We also received transmission licence from CERC, and other major statutory clearances for this project are also in place.
The scope of work involves a 400/220kV AIS substation with associated 400kV double-circuit transmission line running around 150 km for power evacuation.
Work at site is in full swing and the project is moving forward at a satisfactory pace.
Do you expect the project to be completed by its scheduled date, which we understand is end-November 2023?
Despite execution and environmental challenges, we believe that the project will be completed as per defined schedule and quality parameters.
Are you experiencing any difficulties in securing RoW for the project?
Construction of transmission lines is getting more challenging by the day due to increased awareness and rapid urbanization.
In securing right-of-way (RoW), acquisition of land and securing environmental clearances and various other statutory clearances are some of the biggest challenges. We are also facing the same. However, with the government taking cognizance of this underlying problem and with guidelines for ROW compensation now being established, timely completion of transmission projects is now more feasible.
Our experience in the infrastructure space has also empowered us in dealing with RoW-related issues faster, resulting in faster resource mobilization.
G R Infraprojects entered into a partnership with IndiGrid in December 2022. Tell us more.
India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) is a strong partner and our partnership aligns with our vision of nation building. We have an agreed framework on “Rajgarh Transmission Ltd” and we will proceed in accordance to that.
After having won Rajgarh Transmission, has G R Infraprojects been bidding actively in TBCB projects, of late? Incidentally, would you also be interested in intrastate projects being awarded by some states under the TBCB route?
Yes, we are consistently participating in TBCB projects and are quite hopeful of getting our next project soon.
Apart from TBCB projects, we are addressing the EPC market as well and are in advance discussion on few EPC opportunities.
There is a general feeling that competition in bidding for TBCB projects has become very aggressive, particularly in the e-reverse auction stage. What is your view?
We feel that e-reverse auction in TBCB projects is a sectoral challenge. Government intervention is needed, just like in wind projects, to make the projects viable to attract investment and new developers. We have already cited this issue at our level in different forums.
Given that power transmission is a thrust area, how do you see the road ahead for G R Infraprojects in this space?
India has set an ambitious goal of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. To integrate such large-scale renewable energy into the grid, a future-ready transmission system is essential. So, undoubtedly the thrust is available and to make it happen, new transmission projects have been considered for an addition of 28,700 ckm of transmission network by 2024-25. The estimated outlay of these projects is around Rs.75,000 crore.
For G R Infraprojects, the power transmission sector seems promising for domestic as well as international markets. GRIL has already built synergies in identified countries.
On another note, we understand that G R Infraprojects is venturing into green hydrogen space. Can you elaborate?
Yes, at the promoter group level, we have setup a new joint venture company called “GreenH Electrolysis”, in partnership with H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies — a leading European technology player. At present we are developing an electrolyser manufacturing plant of 100 MW, scalable to a Giga-factory. We will address the ever-increasing electrolyser market and would also participate in developing H2 generation projects against off-taker agreements.
