Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has estimated its current work-in-hand at nearly Rs.1.5 trillion, with a clear dominance of projects won under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) framework.
As of July 26, 2025, PGCIL’s work-in-hand stood at Rs.1,48,644 crore (or nearly Rs.1.5 trillion) with TBCB projects dominating with a share of 67 per cent (or Rs.99,906 crore).
According to R.K. Tyagi, CMD, PGCIL, the share of TBCB projects would gradually increase to around 90 per cent in the coming years, as more and more projects are being awarded under this modality.
The PGCIL CMD said that the opportunity space in the TBCB market will also include intrastate projects with states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh going in for the TBCB route for transmission projects above a certain threshold capital outlay.
New RTM (regulated tariff mechanism) projects on hand were estimated at Rs.37,049 crore, accounting for 25 per cent of the total. Ongoing RTM projects were valued at Rs.9,062 crore with the remaining Rs.2,627 crore coming from non-core activities such as cross-border links, smart metering, data centres, etc. [Ongoing RTM projects are those on which construction work has begun.]
Tyagi also observed that under the National Electricity Plan, 2023 (NEP 2032), the government expects Rs.9 trillion of investment in the country’s interstate and intrastate grids. The projects envisaged under NEP 2032 therefore need to be awarded by around 2030. The PGCIL top official estimated that around Rs.3 trillion worth of projects have been awarded so far, implying that around Rs.6 lakh crore worth of projects are pending award. R.K. Tyagi therefore estimated that the opportunity space would be in the range of Rs.1 trillion per year, over the next 5-6 years.
Tyagi also pointed out that Rs.29,000 crore worth of ISTS-TBCB projects have been approved by the National Committee on Transmission (NCT), the bidding process for which has yet to begin. Besides, ISTS-TBCB projects worth around Rs.39,000 crore are currently under bidding. The immediate pipeline of ISTS-TBCB projects therefore is in the region of Rs.68,000 crore.
New energy initiatives
While power transmission would be PGCIL’s core business area, the Central PSU was also keen on pursuing new energy initiatives. Elaborating on this point, R.K. Tyagi said that green hydrogen and battery energy storage systems (BESS) were two such areas where PGCIL intends to develop as a significant player.
Tyagi said that PGCIL has placed an order for generating green hydrogen through solar energy, at its Neemrana substation in Rajasthan. The PGCIL CMD said that electricity generated using the solar panels will be used to generate green hydrogen, which in turn, will be used as fuel for other applications, or for generation of electricity that will be re-injected into the grid.
On the BESS front, PGCIL is keen to participate in a 2,000 MW/4,000 MWh tender in Rajasthan.
PGCIL was aiming at becoming a big player in these two fields – green hydrogen and BESS – over the next 2-3 years, R.K. Tyagi noted.
PGCIL, it may be mentioned, has already forayed in the solar energy space by commissioning an 85-MW solar power plant at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh. Set up by PGCIL’s subsidiary Powergrid Energy Services Ltd, this solar power asset turned commercial on April 24, 2025.
Also read: PGCIL records over 50 per cent capex growth in Q1FY26