The Union finance ministry recently announced the creation of a project pipeline of 46 power transmission schemes, to be developed in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
This pipeline is part of a larger set of 852 PPP projects across Central ministries and states/UTs, with a combined project cost of over Rs.17 lakh crore (Rs.17 trillion).
The pipeline provides early visibility of potential PPP projects to enable investors, developers and other stakeholders to undertake more informed planning and investment decisions, a government release said. It may be mentioned that creating a three-year PPP project pipeline was a key announcement in the Union Budget 2025-26.
Of the 852 projects, 232 projects with aggregate investment of Rs.13.16 trillion belong to Central government ministries while the remaining 620 projects (Rs.3.85 trillion) will be handled by state governments and Union territories.
The Union power ministry has 46 schemes, all of which relate to power transmission. Incidentally, with respect to project volume, the ministry of road transport & highways (MORTH) has the highest number of projects, standing at 108, and the maximum combined outlay, at Rs.8.77 trillion. Other prominent ministries, to this effect, include civil aviation, petroleum & natural gas, ports, shipping & waterways, and railways.
Here is a summary of the 46 power transmission schemes falling under the Union power ministry. Please note that this does not include power transmission/distribution PPP schemes, if any, handled by state governments or UTs.
- The 46 schemes are expected to entail aggregate investment of Rs.3,40,231 crore, and are well distributed across the national geography.
- Of the 46 schemes, 17 are in “ready to bid” stage while six are in the DPR (detailed project report) stage. The remaining 23 are in pre-DPR stage. Bidding of all the 46 schemes is expected to take place between now and Q3FY28 (between October 1, 2027 and December 31, 2027).
- All the schemes will be developed under the DBFOO (design, build, finance, own & operate) model and the bidder selection will most likely be done through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) framework, falling under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
- An overwhelming majority of the 46 schemes relate to large-scale evacuation of renewable energy from RE-rich states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, among few others. Interregional transfer strengthening schemes also feature prominently in the overall list.
- The overall list of 46 schemes features seven schemes involving the use of HVDC-based power transmission technology. These seven schemes have a combined project outlay of Rs.1,85,170 crore, representing over 54 per cent of the aggregate outlay of all 46 schemes.
- Six of the seven HVDC schemes relate to RE evacuation – five in Rajasthan and one in Gujarat. The seventh scheme – the smallest of all HVDC schemes – concerns augmentation of the existing HVDC (VSC) terminal at Thrissur in Kerala. All the six RE-related HVDC schemes are currently in pre-DPR stage and are expect to come up for bidding progressively between Q2FY27 and Q3FY28.
More details on the 852 PPP projects is available here (External link, micro website of Department of Economic Affairs, Union ministry of finance)
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