In a very recent order, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) granted interim transmission licence to Bikaner B Power Transmission Ltd, a TBCB subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).
In its order dated March 3, 2025, CERC said that Bikaner B Power Transmission Ltd (BBPTL) should publish a public notice seeking suggestions/objections to the grant of transmission licence.
BBPTL is expected to file suggestions/objections, if any, before CERC by March 17, 2025. The matter will come up for next CERC hearing on March 18, 2025, during which CERC will give its verdict on the final transmission licence.
BBPTL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL, is developing an ISTS scheme called “Transmission system for evacuation of power from Rajasthan REZ Phase IV (Part 3: 6 GW) [Bikaner Complex]: Part B” under the build, own, operate & transfer (BOOT) model.
PGCIL won this project under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mode. BBPTL was acquired from bid process coordinator REC Power Development & Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL) on November 11, 2024.
The bidding process
The bidding process involved four bidders – Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL), Tata Power, PGCIL and Sterlite Power (now Resonia) – ranked L1 to L4, respectively. PGCIL’s initial price bid was Rs.8,150 million that earned it L3 rank. AESL with a quote of Rs.7018.40 million was L1.
However, in the several rounds of bidding during the e-reverse auction (e-RA) stage, PGCIL emerged the winner. Interestingly, PGCIL downwardly revised its initial bid by as much as 37.5 per cent, to end with a winning quote of Rs.5,093.13 million. The quote/bid described here is the levelized annual transmission charge (tariff) that is fixed for the entire concession period.
Project outline
With an estimated cost of around Rs.5,300 crore, the ISTS scheme under discussion is envisaged for completion by November 2026. The key element of this project is putting up a new 765/400kV, 6×1500 MVA substation at Siwani in Bhiwani district of Haryana. Connectivity will be established with other substations like the Bikaner IV Pooling Station in Rajasthan, and few others in Haryana including Sonipat and Jind. A total transmission network of 934 ckm comprising 765kV and 400kV lines is envisaged under this project.
Bikaner A
The project under discussion has a complementary portion “Part A” that is coming up under the TBCB mode through an independent project SPV “Bikaner A Power Transmission Ltd.” This scheme, also being developed by PGCIL, entails 991 ckm of lines and 12,000 MVA of transformation capacity. Part A will cover Rajasthan, Haryana as well as Punjab. Both Part A and Part B are expected to commission concurrently, by November 2026. Interestingly, Part A also had the same set of four bidders as in Part B.
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