The Indian company REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL) has issued a request for proposals (RfP) to select the developer and operator of a new interstate transmission system to connect India’s Southern Region (SR) Grid and the Western Region (WR) Grid. The Transmission Service Provider (TSP) will be selected through a tariff-based competitive bidding process to develop, finance, build, commission, operate and maintain a 765 kV double circuit (D/C) transmission line between the Maharashtra and the Karnataka regions (Parli New to Bidar). The project should be set to start commercial operations 24 months after the effective date, and the TSP will be expected to hand over the project assets after 35 years to the Central Transmission Utility or its designated agency.
The tender is in line with India’s commitment to reinforce power transmission capacity between regions to meet rising demand. According to the country's NEP (2022-2027), India aims to develop 190,000 km of transmission lines and 1,270 GVA of transformation capacity across the country to support the 600 GW of renewable capacity planned by 2032.