Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted final transmission licence to Davanagere Power Transmission Ltd, a TBCB subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).
The interstate transmission licence, unless revoked earlier, will remain in force for a period of 25 years, CERC said in its order dated January 12, 2026.
Davanagere Power Transmission Ltd is developing an interstate transmission system (ISTS) scheme termed as “Transmission system strengthening at Davanagere for integration of RE generation” and is taking shape in Karnataka.
With an estimated cost of Rs.379 crore, as estimated by National Committee on Transmission (NCT), the project has a gestation period of 24 months. The scheduled commissioning date stands at September 25, 2027.
PGCIL won this project under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) framework by quoting the winning tariff of Rs.423.11 million per year, getting the better of three other bidders that had qualified for opening of initial price bids.
Interestingly, this project did not attract the interest of seasoned players but instead saw smaller and relatively new players in the fray. As reported by tndindia.com on August 20, 2025, the project saw a new entrant in the ISTS-TBCB bidding space – Ramalingam Construction Company Pvt Ltd.
The subject Davanagere project essentially involves augmentation of the upcoming Davanagere Pooling Station by 3,500 MVA, coming through 4×500 MVA, 400/220kV and 1×1500 MVA, 765/400kV interconnecting transformers.
The scheme’s objective is to fulfill connectivity applications of 3,175 MW (including 1,850 MW granted and 1,325 MW under application) at the Davanagere Pooling Station in Karnataka.
The Davanagere PS, in turn, is coming up through a separate ISTS-TBCB project of PGCIL, housed under “Powergrid Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd” (formerly: Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd). This pooling station is currently under land acquisition stage, and is scheduled to commission by March 2027.
Change in project SPV name
PGCIL acquired Davanagere Power Transmission Ltd on September 24, 2025, and has subsequently renamed it to “Powergrid Davanagere Augmentation Transmission Ltd”.
Transmission licence
According to information available with tndindia.com, while CERC has granted transmission licence to Powergrid Davanagere Augmentation Transmission Ltd, as discussed in this story, the adoption and approval of transmission charges is pending.
It may be mentioned that earlier in January 2026, CERC had granted final transmission licence to another TBCB subsidiary of PGCIL — Mandsaur I RE Transmission Ltd – that is now known as “Powergrid Mandsaur Augmentation Transmission Ltd.”
Also read: CERC grants interim transmission licence to Ananthapuram II interstate scheme
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