India plans to add 20,000 cKM of lines, 100 GVA annually till 2030, investing Rs 4.5 lakh crore in power transmission
Chennai: After witnessing a slowdown for the past three years, power transmission projects are geared up for major capacity addition till 2030. Annual addition of 20,000 circuit kilometres(ckm) of transmission line and 100 GVA of substation capacity will require investments to the tune of Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
The progress in transmission capacity addition has remained lower over the past three years compared to the period until 2019, mainly due to the decline in project awards over 2020-22 and execution challenges. The annual line addition stood at 14,000-15,000 cKM for FY22-FY24 over 20,000 cKM prior to 2020. However, with the pick-up in project awards, the transmission capacity addition is expected to improve.
The National Electricity Plan (NEP) proposes to raise the transmission line length from 4,86,000 ckm in March 2024 to 6,48,000 ckm by March 2032, and the substation capacity from 1,218 GVA(gigavolt-ampere) as of March 2024 to 2,345 GVA by March 2032.
ICRA expects the transmission line length to increase to 6,00,000 cKM by March 2030, entailing an annual addition of 19,000-20,000 cKM. Also, the substation capacity is projected to increase to 1,850 GVA as of March 2030, necessitating an annual addition of 100 GVA against average addition of 70 GVA over the past few years.
This capacity addition till 2030 will require investments of Rs. 4.5 lakh crore. Such significant scale-up in capacity addition requires the need to address challenges related to right of way RoW and clearances. Power transmission projects face execution risks, mainly due to delays in acquiring the right of way (RoW) and forest clearances.
