Central Transmission of Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) has formally approved 12 interstate transmission system (ISTS) projects that will be collectively implemented by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and its TBCB subsidiaries, under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) route.
These 12 projects, with an aggregate investment of Rs.439.29 crore, are spread across the western region (WR), northern region (NR) and southern region (SR) grids.
It may be mentioned that as each of the 12 projects has an envisaged investment of less than Rs.100 crore, CTUIL is empowered to approve the same autonomously. Such approval also entails the mode of implementation – whether TBCB or RTM. It may be mentioned that National Committee on Transmission (NCT) clears projects costing between Rs.100 crore and Rs.500 crore, while projects costing over Rs.500 crore need concurrence from the Union power ministry.
While 10 of these projects, with total investment of Rs.414.57 crore, will be implemented by PGCIL on standalone basis, two others have been entrusted to two TBCB subsidiaries – Powergrid Bikaner IV Transmission Ltd and Powergrid Barmer I Transmission Ltd.
These 12 projects are scheduled to commission progressively between November 2026 and May 2027.
The biggest project in this list of 12 RTM assignments is augmentation of PGCIL’s existing 400/220kV Lucknow substation in Uttar Pradesh, by addition of a 1×500 MVA, 400/220kV interconnecting transformer (ICT), the third at the substation. This project, costing Rs.87.10 crore, will also entail putting up associated line bays.
Southern Region
PGCIL will also be augmenting transformation capacity at three 400/220kV substations –Nagarjunsagar (Andhra Pradesh), Trivandrum (Kerala) and Kozhikode (Kerala). In each of these cases, the existing capacity will be enhanced by 500 MVA by addition of an ICT. Each project will cost over Rs.50 crore.
Another project in the southern region involves replacing an existing 315 MVA ICT at the 400/230kV Udumalpet substation in Tamil Nadu with a 500 MVA ICT, at an estimated cost of around Rs.38 crore.
PGCIL’s plan for FY26
For the current fiscal year, FY26, PGCIL is expected to incur capital expenditure of around Rs.28,000 crore as against the actual capex of Rs.26,255 crore in FY25. This capex is on consolidated basis, including projects of PGCIL as well as those of its TBCB subsidiaries.
In physical terms, as per data released by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), PGCIL is expected to commission 113,005 MVA of substation capacity and 10,263 ckm of transmission lines in FY26. This will be very significantly higher than the actual achievement in FY25 that stood at 31,515 MVA and 2,354 ckm, respectively.
Also read: CTUIL expects Rs.3.42 trillion capex in ISTS network upgrade by FY30
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