TBCB Report Card for 9MFY23: Six projects awarded, five completed

Special Report

Venugopal Pillai
February 13, 2023

Six new interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes were awarded under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mode during the first nine months (April to December) of the current fiscal year FY23, according to a special study done by T&D India.

The study based on official reports issued by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) suggests that while six new ISTS transmission schemes were awarded during the April-December period of FY23 under the TBCB route, five such schemes were commissioned in the said period.

New projects awarded

The six ISTS TBCB projects awarded during the April-December period of FY23 went to a mix of seasoned and new players. Among the seasoned players were PGCIL with two projects and Sterlite Power with one. The new crop of developers included Renew Transmission Ventures Pvt Ltd, GR Infraprojects Ltd and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL). While it was only the second ISTS project for ReNew Transmission, the other two were debutants in the ISTS development space.

It may be noted that the projects SPVs (#1 and #2) were incorporated by the bid process coordinator (BPC) as “Khetri-Narela Transmission System Ltd” and “Neemuch Transmission Ltd”, respectively. PGCIL renamed these SPVs after they were formally acquired from the BPC concerned.

Projects completed

In the five schemes commissioned, Adani Group had the highest number of projects completed – at three – while Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) commissioned two.

Change of ownership

During the April-December period of FY23, one TBCB project housed under “NRSS XXXVI Transmission Ltd” was acquired by Resurgent Power Ventures Pte Ltd, a joint venture in which Tata Power is amongst the shareholders. The original project promoter was Essel Infraprojects who ran into financial difficulties. The transfer of the project to Resurgent Power was part of a stressed asset resolution process initiated by PTC India Financial Services Ltd, a lender of NRSS XXXVI, through a competitive bidding process.

Cumulative status

As of December 31, 2022, there were 70 ISTS projects, awarded with the TBCB modality, under various stages of implementation. Of these, 43 were commissioned while 23 were under construction. Four projects were effectively abandoned for a variety of reasons.

Speaking of under-construction TBCB projects alone, PGCIL had the highest number – at seven – closely followed by Sterlite Power with six. Adani Transmission had four projects while the remaining six were thinly distributed amongst several developers that included an infrastructure investment trust – India Grid Trust (IndiGrid).