Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in a recent order, has granted transmission licence to Nangalbibra Bongaigaon Transmission Ltd (NBTL).
NBTL is the special purpose vehicle (SPV), owned by Sterlite Power, developing the Nangalbibra Bongaigaon scheme under the build, own, operate, maintain (BOOM) mode. Sterlite Power had won this interstate transmission scheme under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) route last year.
In March 2022, CERC had proposed to grant transmission licence to NBTL subject to no objections received to the public notice. In response to the public notice, no objections or suggestions were received, and hence CERC has proceeded to grant transmission licence for a period of 25 years, subject to customary conditions.
The project mainly involves setting up of a new 220/132kV, 2×160 MVA substation at Nangalbibra in Meghalaya, and around 300 ckm of transmission lines across Assam and Meghalaya. A major project component is the 400kV double-circuit transmission line (around 250 ckm) connecting Bongaigaon in Assam to a greenfield substation at Nangalbibra in Meghalaya, across the river Brahmaputra.
NBTL was acquired by Sterlite Power, through its wholly-owned subsidiary “Sterlite Grid 26 Ltd”, under the TBCB modality. Sterlite Power had quoted the winning tariff of around Rs.55.86 crore per year.
The transmission scheme is scheduled for completion within 24 months from December 2021, which is when Sterlite Power formally acquired Nangalbibra Bongaigaon Transmission Ltd.
It may be recalled that in March this year, Sterlite Power had announced that the project had reached financial closure when the entire debt component of Rs.440 crore was raised from a single entity – Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd.
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