The power ministry has identified about a dozen transmission lines that will be awarded to private firms after a competitive bidding process to take forward its initiative for greater private investments. Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which has been made the nodal agency for conducting the tariff-based bidding, will invite expression of interest (EoI) after the ministry finalises the grid lines, government sources told PTI. PFC will set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for transmission, and the company has already received the approval from its board of directors, sources said. The ministry has given PFC the flexibility to set up either only one SPV or various project-specific SPVs, sources said, adding EoIs could be invited by the end of the month. The SPVs will do all the necessary work related to various statutory approvals. After bidding, the SPVs would be transferred to the selected developer. |