ISTS-TBCB market takes a breather, only two schemes formally awarded in Q1FY26

Special Report

Venugopal Pillai
July 8, 2025

After a hectic FY25 when a record 45 schemes were formally awarded, the ISTS-TBCB market has taken a breather this fiscal with just two schemes transferred to winning developers in the first quarter.

According to an exclusive study by T&D India, only two interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes were formally transferred to winning developers during Q1 of FY26 (April 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025).

The winners included Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) that won an ISTS-TBCB scheme in Madhya Pradesh housed under “MEL Transmission Ltd” and Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) that acquired “WRNES Talegaon Power Transmission Ltd” – an ISTS scheme involving network expansion in Western Region to cater to pumped storage potential near Talegaon in Pune district, Maharashtra.

L1 bidder declared

Apart from these two schemes, there is also “Angul Sundargarh Transmission Ltd” – an ISTS scheme in Odisha – where the L1 bidder has been announced but the formal transfer of SPV was pending as of June 30, 2025. The bidder in this case is Jaipur-headquartered H.G. Infra Engineering Ltd (HGIEL) that was declared L1 for the “Eastern Region Generation Scheme – I (ERGS-I)” in Odisha.

This project, once formally transferred, will mark the debut of HGIEL in the power transmission development space. Interestingly, the company was contending for this project alongside seasoned players like PGCIL and Tata Power.

It may be recalled that in FY25, Reliance Industries Ltd and Dineshchandra R. Agarwal Infracon Pvt Ltd (DRAIPL) had debuted in the ISTS-TBCB space, while Tata Power and Torrent Power had done so in FY24.

Imminent transfer

As of June 30, 2025, bid process coordinator PFC Consulting Ltd (PFCCL) had shortlisted bidders for opening of initial price bids with respect to three schemes, housed under the following special purpose vehicles:

While seasoned players like PGCIL, AESL, Resonia (formerly Sterlite Power) and Tata Power are amongst the bidders qualified for Khandla GHA Transmission and NER Expansion Transmission Ltd, the Raghanesda RE Transmission scheme has, in addition, new aspirants like KCC Buildcon Pvt Ltd and Kalthia Engineering & Construction Ltd.

It is expected that the three aforementioned schemes will be formally transferred to their winning developer in the early part of Q2FY26.

As per information available with T&D India, RECPDCL, as of June 30, 2025, had no scheme where the L1 bidder was named but the formal transfer of SPV was pending.

Prospects for FY26

As of June 30, 2025, there were just about 20 ISTS schemes under various stages of bidding, and the addition of new schemes to the bidding basket has considerably slowed down this year as reflected in ISTS schemes cleared by the National Committee on Transmission (NCT) in its recent meetings.

Nevertheless, FY26 could very well see the maturing of the intrastate transmission system (InSTS) market under the TBCB framework. States like Maharashtra and Karnataka, for instance, are aggressively pursuing the TBCB modality for development of their intrastate grids with at least 13 InSTS-TBCB schemes, being handled by PFCCL and RECPDCL, currently under various stages of bidding in these two states.

Editor’s Note: In all its research studies, T&D India treats an ISTS-TBCB or InSTS-TBCB scheme as “won” or “awarded’ only when the project SPV is formally transferred by the bid process coordinator to the winning developer. The mere naming of the “L1” bidder or issuance of letter of intent does not constitute winning of a scheme, in the context of T&D India’s research activities.

Featured photograph (source: Adani Energy Solutions Ltd) is for representation only