Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted final transmission licence to “KPS III HVDC Power Transmission Ltd,” a subsidiary of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd.
The final transmission licence was issued following the interim licence that was granted through CERC’s order dated May 9, 2026. CERC had then directed the petitioner KPS III HVDC Power Transmission Ltd to issue a public notice seeking objections/suggestions to the grant of final licence and file the same before CERC on of before May 18, 2026.
As no objections/suggestions were received, CERC granted the final transmission licence in its order dated May 24, 2026.
Earlier, in its order dated May 12, 2026, CERC had approved and adopted the annual transmission charges (tariff) discovered through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process.
Adani Energy: From L2 to L1
The project SPV “KPS III HVDC Power Transmission Ltd” was formally acquired by Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) on December 12, 2025 after the Adani Group entity emerged as the winning bidder under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mechanism.
AESL’s winning quote (tariff or annualized transmission charges) was Rs.23,917.69 million, and it got the better of three other contenders – Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), Resonia Ltd and Enerica Infra 1 Pvt Ltd (an entity co-promoted by IndiGrid).
In light of newly-released official information, it is interesting to note that AESL was not the L1 bidder, based on the initial price bids. PGCIL held L1 status with a quote of Rs.27,039.00 million.
Based on initial price bids, AESL was a rather distant L2 with a quote of Rs.35,570.00 million — around 32 per cent higher than the L1 bid. Enerica and Resonia were L3 and L4 bidders, respectively, on the basis of their initial bids.
The aforementioned four bidders submitted their response to RfP (technical and financial bids), and all of them qualified for opening of initial price bids.
The e-reverse auction, which was held on September 9, 2025, saw as many as 49 rounds of bidding with the competition essentially being restricted to PGCIL and AESL.
During the e-reverse auction, AESL lowered its bid very significantly by 33 per cent from the original Rs.35,570.00 million to the winning bid of Rs.23,917.69 million. PGCIL emerged L2 at the end of the e-RA, followed by Resonia at third position. Enerica did not participate in the e-RA process.
HVDC schemes under TBCB
So far, three HVDC schemes have been awarded under the TBCB modality with PGCIL winning one (the biggest of the three) and AESL, two. Here is a snapshot:
Featured photograph relating to an HVDC project of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd is for representation only