PowerGrid plans transmission joint venture

Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL), armed with a mandate to undertake systems improvement studies for Reliance group's Rs 10,000 crore power project at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, said it was interested in entering into a transmission joint venture for evacuating power.

In addition, it is planning to enter into an agreement with the Rural Electrification Corporation for electrification of villages in six states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The public sector company is also venturing overseas with a project in Afghanistan for evacuating power from Uzbekistan across the Hindukush mountains.

"We will certainly consider the proposal from them (Reliance) if they approach us," PGCIL chairman and managing director RP Singh said.

He said preliminary calculations place the cost of establishing a line for evacuation power at around Rs 2,000-2,500 crore.

Singh, however, warned that the project of this nature was beset with certain technical problems, relating to the right of way on account of absence of redundancy.

The existing corridor from Dadri to the capital is already overloaded and adding another line may impact northern region states such as Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir who share the highway.

Reliance group is setting up a 3,500 mw power project at Dadri in the outskirts of the capital at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore.

Singh said PGCIL had undertaken systems strengthening studies. Singh said that the agreement with REC would be for 10 years and PGCIL has already set up a separate division for the business.