Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) will surpass the capital expenditure (capex) target for FY24, the company’s CMD said.
Addressing an investor conference, K. Sreekant, Chairman & Managing Director, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, said that PGCIL would surpass the capital expenditure target for FY24 (full year), which is pegged at Rs.8,800 crore.
“We are confident that our capex will be more than Rs.8,800 crore in FY24,” observed K. Sreekant, adding that TBCB projects, smart metering and PGCIL’s upcoming solar power project will drive capex during the current year.
Smart metering
Under discussion for quite some time now, PGCIL finally closed its major smart metering order. The mandate worth Rs.4,067 crore has been placed by Gujarat discoms – Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (MGVCL) and Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (UGVCL). It involves installation of 69 lakh smart meters and associated works. The project is spread over 10 years including 27 months of implementation, and 93 months of O&M.
Solar project
The PGCIL board recently approved investment in a 85-mw solar power project at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh. Discussing the project, K. Sreekant said that this greenfield project will come over the next 10 months. Electricity generated from this facility, estimated at around 180 million kwh per year, will be used for captive consumption and the surplus will be sold on exchanges.
TBCB projects
During Q1 of FY24, PGCIL won two interstate transmission system (ISTS) projects under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mechanism. These two projects, it is learnt, are housed under project SPVs – Bhadla III Transmission Ltd and Ananthapuram Transmission Ltd. The combined levelized annual tariff for these two projects would be around Rs.341.30 crore, the CMD observed.
These apart, PGCIL has submitted bids for three TBCB projects for which the results are expected to be announced soon.
PGCIL is optimistic on TBCB projects boosting the company’s capex plans. “TBCB for renewable energy (RE) projects is a major source of confidence for us. A lot of projects have been approved,” was how K. Sreekant put across his point.
Meanwhile, PGCIL’s equity contribution in its TBCB subsidiaries increased to Rs.3,891 crore as of June 30, 2023 from Rs.3,525 crore as of the same date in 2022. PGCIL currently has around 37 subsidiaries for TBCB projects.
Work on hand
As of June 30, 2023, PGCIL had works on hand worth Rs.48,700 crore. This included Rs.11,200 crore on ongoing RTM (regulated tariff mechanism) projects, Rs.24,700 crore for new RTM projects and the remaining Rs.12,800 crore on TBCB projects.
Also read: PGCIL Wins Two ISTS Schemes Under TBCB Mode
Featured photograph shows PGCIL’s GIS substation at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is for representation only.
