Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) is very likely to surpass the capital expenditure target for FY22, given its performance in the first three quarters of the year.
In an investor presentation, PGCIL said that it has planned capital expenditure of Rs.7,500 crore in FY22. In the first three quarters of FY22 (April 2021 to December 2021), the Central PSU had already incurred capex of Rs.7,188 crore. This implies a target achievement of nearly 96 per cent, in just 75 per cent of the available time period.
As discussed in a separate story by T&D India, cumulative capex performance in the April-December period of FY22 was bolstered by the third quarter (October to December) when PGCIL undertook capital expenditure worth Rs.3,493 crore. This, according to estimates made by T&D India, has been the highest quarterly capital expenditure level, in PGCIL’s recent history.
Work in hand
PGCIL has estimated that it had work in hand worth around Rs.24,500 crore, as of December 31, 2021. This included Rs.7,100 crore of ongoing projects, Rs.4,200 crore as part of new projects, and TBCB projects worth Rs.13,200 crore.
Business outlook
PGCIL has estimated that there exist business opportunities worth around Rs.25,750 crore, which is in turn based on project costs worked out by the National Committee on Transmission (NCT). This basket of opportunity, exclusively consisting of TBCB projects, includes Rs.12,900 crore worth of interstate transmission system (ISTS) projects under bidding, and Rs.10,800 crore worth of ISTS projects for which the bidding process has yet to begin. Another Rs.2,050 crore is entailed by intrastate transmission system projects that are under bidding.
It may be mentioned that PGCIL has recently won some major projects under the RTM (regulated tariff mechanism) mode. These include the 5-GW Leh-Kaithal transmission corridor, and a transmission scheme aiming to improve transfer capacity to Gujarat form the ISTS network. PGCIL has also been declared successful bidder under a TBCB project, officially termed as “Transmission System Strengthening Scheme for Evacuation of Power from Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase-II Part-G.” The formal award of this project is pending, according to information available with T&D India. PGCIL, it may be recalled, won five TBCB projects in 2021 – all related to power evacuation from upcoming renewable energy zones in Rajasthan. (See related story)