Japan to fund transformer replacement

The Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC) has agreed to provide financial assistance of Rs 626 crore to the state-owned transmission utility Mahatransco's Rs 703 crore transformer replacement programme.

The MoU between Mahatransco's Managing Director Subrat Ratho and the Bank's South Asia Regional Head Kengo Akamine was signed in Delhi recently.

The JBIC will provide loan at 1.5 per cent per annum which has to be repaid over next thirty years.

Under the programme, Mahatransco will replace the 183 transformers in 110 sub-stations, over the next three years, which are 20-25 years old.

This will increase Mahatransco's transmission capacity by 6,675 MVA and reduce the number of instances of tripping of transformers, for minor technical snag.

Considering that the demand for power is increasing every year and to meet the demand, a number of power plants are coming up in the state and to carry more power and evacuate power from the generation plant, we need to upgrade our network. The replacement of transformers is part of the larger programme of strengthening the transmission network for Rs 20,000 crore, said Ratho.