Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in a very recent order, has approved the annual transmission charge (tariff) associated with the Ratle-Kiru interstate transmission system (ISTS) scheme that was awarded to IndiGrid Infrastructure Trust (IndiGrid) under the TBCB framework.
The scheme is officially termed as “Transmission system for evacuation of power from Ratle HEP (850 MW) & Kiru HEP (624 MW): Part-A” and will be developed by Ratle Kiru Power Transmission Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IndiGrid 2 Pvt Ltd, in turn owned by IndiGrid.
IndiGrid acquired the project SPV from bid process coordinator REC Power Development & Consultancy on March 24, 2025 after it emerged as winning developer under the TBCB modality, with a tariff quote of Rs.1952.32 million per year.
The bidding process
IndiGrid was L1 even based on initial price bids with a quote of Rs.2,110.00 million per year. At the end of e-reverse auction (e-RA), in which there were 31 rounds of bidding, IndiGrid emerged winner with a final quote of Rs.1,952.32 million. The e-RA saw three other bidders in the fray – Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) and Resonia Ltd (formerly Sterlite Grid32 Ltd).
Cost revision
After the e-RA was conducted on January 23, 2025, the final tariff discovered (of Rs.1,952.32 million) was found to be 56 per cent higher than what was internally estimated by the bid evaluation committee (BEC). The BEC’s estimate was based on the initial project cost of Rs.986.91 crore, which was subsequently revised to Rs.1,407.44 crore owing to various factors like latest rates for RoW compensation and tree cutting compensation of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir. This information, the CERC order says, was not available when the initial cost estimate was worked out.
The BEC, in its final meeting held on February 20, 2025, accepted the price bid and decided to award the project to IndiGrid. The letter of intent (LoI) was issued to IndiGrid on February 28, 2025.
Transmission licence
The adoption of tariff by CERC is subject to Ratle Kiru Power Transmission Ltd (RKPTL) being granted interstate transmission licence to the project. On its part, CERC has recently granted interim transmission licence to RKPTL subject to customary conditions. RKPTL is expected to issue a public notice seeking suggestions/objections to the grant of licence. Any such public feedback will need to be placed before CERC by August 16, 2025 and the matter will come up for next CERC hearing on August 19, 2025.
The project
The Ratle-Kiru transmission scheme, expected to commission by March 24, 2027, involves 186 ckm of transmission lines and no transformation capacity. Some of the important lines are: LILO of the 400kV Kishenpur-Dulhasti line at Kishtwar substation; 400kV double-circuit (quad) Kishenpur-Samba line; 400kV double-circuit (quad) Samba-Jalandhar line. Geographically, the project is spread across UT of J&K and Punjab.
The Kishtwar substation (pooling station) mentioned above is being developed by Resonia Ltd through a separate ISTS-TBCB scheme housed under “Kishtwar Transmission Ltd” and is expected to commission by October 2025.
The Ratle-Kiru transmission scheme will also have connectivity to the upcoming 400kV double-circuit (quad) Kishtwar-Kishenpur line that is being implemented by PGCIL under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) modality. This line is scheduled to commission very soon, it is learnt.
Also read: CERC grants interim licence to RTM projects of PGCIL
Featured photograph (source: IndiGrid) relating to IndiGrid’s Kallam transmission scheme in Maharashtra is for representation only