In recent orders, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), has adopted the tariff associated with two interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes that were awarded under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mechanism.
In two independent but recent orders, CERC adopted the tariff (annual transmission charges) for two ISTS-TBCB housed under project SPVs – Bijapur REZ Transmission Ltd and NERGS-I Power Transmission Ltd.
CERC has also granted interim transmission licence to both the schemes, and the final transmission licence is expected to be issued soon, following compliance of stipulated formalities by the respective developers.
Here are highlights of the bidding process.
Bijapur REZ Transmission
The scheme “Bijapur REZ Transmission Ltd” is significant as it involved the participation of as many as nine bidders – the highest seen in any of the 45 ISTS-TBCB schemes awarded in FY25. The project was awarded to G R Infraprojects Ltd (GRIL).
The project saw the participation of at least three entities, which, according to information available with T&D India, was their first attempt in the ISTS-TBCB space. These were Gawar Construction Ltd, Babrik Project Ltd and Jakson Ltd.
Based on the initial price bids, GRIL was L1 with a quote of Rs.1,077 million per year. The three newcomers cited above were L2, L3 and L4, respectively. There was a wide spread of nearly 40 per cent between the L1 bid and the L9 bid of Rs.1,501 million.
Interestingly, none of the bidders participated in the e-reverse auction (e-RA) resulting in GRIL winning the project based on its initial price bid.
More details on the Bijapur REZ project are available in this T&D India story dated January 17, 2025.
NERGS-I
The “NERGS-I Power Transmission Ltd” project was won by Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd (Techno) with three other bidders qualifying for opening of price bids – Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), Resonia (formerly Sterlite Grid32 Ltd) and IndiGrid Infrastructure Trust (IndiGrid).
Based on initial price bids, PGCIL was L1 with a quote of Rs.355 million while the final winner Techno stood L2 with Rs.391 million.
In the e-RA that followed, only PGCIL and Techno participated. As many as 59 rounds of bidding took place in the e-RA with Techno winning the project with a final bid of Rs.303.68 million that was 22 per cent lower than its initial bid.
It is also learnt that bidder participation in this ISTS-TBCB scheme was possibly low because of the fact that the project was scheduled to commission by a fixed deadline of December 31, 2026, regardless of the date of SPV transfer. In normal course, the commissioning date is measured from the date of SPV transfer – typically 24 months.
More details on the NERGS-I project can be found in this T&D India story.
Featured photograph (source: GRIL) is for representation only
