Power Grid achieves planned capex Rs 22,500 crore

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a ‘Navratna’ Company under Ministry of Power of the country, commissioned transmission projects worth Rs 30,300 crore (unaudited) during 2015-16, which is the highest-ever commissioning achieved by the Company in its history. The Company achieved the planned Capex of Rs.22,500 crore (provisional). The commissioned projects inter-alia includes Pole-I of ±800kV HVDC NER-Agra Interconnection Project, Inter-Regional lines between ER-WR, ER-NR, WR-SR & NR-WR. The highlights of the year include establishment of two new international interconnections, one with Nepal and the other with Bangladesh. Interconnection with Nepal, ‘Muzaffarpur (Bihar, India) – Dhalkebar (Nepal) transmission line’ was jointly dedicated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Nepal, K.P. Sharma Oli via tele-inauguration, during the latter’s visit to India in February, 2016. The 2nd interconnection with Bangladesh, ‘Surjyamaninagar (Tripura, India) – Comilla (Bangladesh)’ transmission line, was jointly dedicated by the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina via video-conferencing. The Chief Minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar also joined the dedication through video-conferencing. During FY16, tenders for transmission projects worth more than Rs 50,000 crore were released setting a new benchmark for highest-ever tenders in a single year by the Company. During the year, the Company also awarded contracts for 270 packages worth Rs 22,000 crore and Investment Approvals for projects worth Rs 13,200 crore were undertaken. For the nine month period (April15-December, 2015), the Company had reported Total Income of Rs 15,320 crore and posted Profit After Tax of Rs 4,428 crore.