Power Grid Corporation of India (Powergrid), a key player in the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure, is positioning itself to meet the challenges of India’s renewable energy (RE) transition. Under the leadership of its new Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD), Ravindra Kumar Tyagi, who took over in January, Powergrid aims to play a pivotal role in supporting India’s ambitious renewable energy goals.
In his first exclusive interactionwith Forbesindia ,Powergrid, Tyagi says will become a Rs5 lakh crore company in six to seven years. Currently, its market capitalisation stands at around Rs3 lakh crore. “We have projects worth more than Rs100,000 crore that are yet to be commissioned, and another Rs1 lakh crore projects are in the tendering pipeline under the tariff-based competitive bidding process,” he says.
The public sector utility, which transmits 45 percent of India’s power and controls around 84 percent of the inter-regional transmission capacity in the country, added 91 ckm transmission lines during the quarter ended June, as per the company’s investor presentation in June. It announced an estimated capital expenditure outlay of Rs207,500 crore up to 2032, out of which Rs190,500 crore will go to the transmission business, and around Rs17,000 crore to solar generation, smart metering infrastructure and data centres.
The recent addition of 91 ckm transmission lines during the June quarter showcases the company’s ongoing efforts to strengthen India’s power infrastructure.
India has set an ambitious target of achieving 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, requiring at least 50 GW of additional renewable energy capacity every year. However, the intermittent nature of renewable energy and the long distances between generation sites and consumption centers present challenges. “Building transmission networks takes two to three years, while renewable energy generation takes just six to eight months,” Tyagi explained, emphasizing the need for proactive action to avoid delays in connecting RE generation to the grid.
Powergrid’s commitment to expanding its transmission network and integrating renewable energy is crucial to supporting India’s energy transition and meeting its future energy demands. Credit :Forbes India
