Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has announced that it has fully commissioned an interstate transmission system (ISTS) scheme relating to renewable energy evacuation from the Khavda Pooling Station in Gujarat.
In a brief stock exchange filing, PGCIL said that the scheme, formally termed as “Transmission system for evacuation of 4.5 GW RE injection at Khavda PS under Phase-II, Part B,” was fully commissioned on December 13, 2025 and the date of commercial operations (DOCO) was declared as December 18, 2025.
The scheme was developed under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) framework by “Powergrid Khavda II-B Transmission Ltd,” a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL.
According to official information, independently available, the Khavda II-B scheme involved putting up a 765kV double-circuit line running 368 ckm, from Lakadia Pooling Station to Ahmedabad, in Gujarat. There is no transformation capacity (substation) associated with the project.
The project was officially transferred to PGCIL on March 21, 2023, and as per original timelines, was scheduled to commission by March 21, 2025, which is 24 months from the date of SPV transfer.
Severe right-of-way constraints in Gujarat militated against the project progress, resulting in a time overrun of around nine months.
With an estimated cost of Rs.1,238 crore, the project was awarded to PGCIL under the TBCB modality, with annual transmission charges (tariff) of Rs.1,106.38 crore.
PGCIL won the project amidst competition from three other bidders – Resonia Ltd, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd and Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd. Of these, as per official information available, only PGCIL and Resonia participated in the e-reverse auction (e-RA) stage. PGCIL clinched the project at the end of 40 rounds in the e-RA routine.
Three TBCB components
The overarching scheme “Transmission system for evacuation of 4.5 GW RE injection at Khavda PS under Phase-II” has three components – Parts A, B and C –being developed under the TBCB framework.
While Part B has now been commissioned as discussed in this story, Part A was commissioned, on schedule, by Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, through its TBCB subsidiary “Khavda II-A Transmission Ltd,” in March 2025. This component entailed 355 ckm of the 765kV double-circuit line from Khavda Pooling Station-2 (KPS2) to Lakadia, with no substation involved.
Part C is being developed by PGCIL’s TBCB subsidiary “Powergrid Khavda II-C Transmission Ltd” and was scheduled to fully commission by March 2025. This project is anticipated to fully commission by end of December 2025. It is learnt that while the 765/400kV, 3×1500 MVA Ahmedabad (New) substation is completed, the only other component – the 765kV Ahmedabad (New) – Navsari double-circuit line spanning 590 ckm — is on the verge of completion.
Part D
The overall scheme, at one point, also has a fourth TBCB component — Part D. However, this scheme was de-notified by the power ministry for implementation under TBCB, and was awarded to Torrent Power Grid Ltd (TGPL) under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) mode. TGPL is a 74:26 joint venture between Torrent Power Ltd and PGCIL.
As per information available, Part D, which involves mainly a LILO of the existing 400kV Pirana (PGCIL) – Pirana (Torrent) line at Ahmedabad (New) substation, is expected to commission by January 2026. (Related story on Khavda-II, Part D)
Also read: PGCIL approves refurbishment of Chandrapur back-to-back HVDC station
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