Bid process coordinator REC Power Development & Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL) is likely to soon announce the winners for at least five interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes for which bidder selection is taking place through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mechanism.
According to information available from official sources, RECPDCL is likely to announce winners for the following ISTS-TBCB schemes in the coming weeks:
- NERES XVI Power Transmission Ltd
- Khavda IV-E2 Power Transmission Ltd
- Rajasthan IV A Power Transmission Ltd
- Rajasthan IV C Power Transmission Ltd
- Rajasthan IV E Power Transmission Ltd
While the first scheme involves system strengthening in the northeast region, the remaining four pertain to power evacuation from renewable energy zones in Khavda in Gujarat and Jaisalmer/Balmer in Rajasthan.
RECPDCL has already opened the initial price bids for all the five schemes. In some cases, the e-reverse auction – the next stage of the bidding process — has already taken place but the final results were not officially declared till the time of writing this story.
As per the initial price bids, RECPDCL has qualified Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and Sterlite Power for all the five schemes. Adani Energy Solutions has qualified for four schemes. Apraava Energy, Tata Power and Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd have each qualified for one scheme. (See table)
These prequalified bidders will now be selected on the basis of their final price bids that will emerge after the e-reverse auction.
Of the six bidders in the fray, PGCIL, Sterlite Power and Adani Energy Solutions are seasoned players while the remaining three are relatively new on the ISTS-TBCB landscape.
Apraava Energy debuted in the greenfield ISTS-TBCB space in FY24 and today has a portfolio of three projects. Tata Power also landed in first greenfield ISTS-TBCB project — Bikaner III Neemrana II Transmission Ltd – in December 2023.
As per information available with T&D India, Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd (TEECL) had won three ISTS-TBCB schemes during the period 2017 to 2011. For some of these three projects, Techno Electric had bid in consortium with other partners like Kalpataru Projects International Ltd (then Kalpataru Power Transmission). However, all these three projects were eventually sold to Apraava Energy and India Grid Trust.
For TEECL, therefore, “NERES XVI Power Transmission Ltd” marks a potential re-entry in the interstate power transmission development space.
Featured photograph (source: L&T) is for representation only.