States face power deficit as Power Grid delays transmission lines.

Even as Power Grid Corporation gets big-ticket transmission projects from the government, about 15 major transmission lines are pending with the company.

In most cases, the commissioning date has been extended by at least three years. For transmission corridors scheduled to have been readied by 2012, commissioning has been postponed to the end of this year or early next year.

The company has told the government securing land for sub-stations and right of way for laying transmission lines is extremely difficult in certain areas. Among the delayed inter-regional transmission lines are those connecting thermal power plant sites in Vindhayachal, Bokaro and Rihand. The line connecting Solapur and Pune, an important link for southern India, has also been delayed.

The recent synchronisation of the southern grid with the national one awaits the commissioning of transmission corridors, which will connect it to areas in Jharkhand and Odisha that have many coal-based thermal power plants.

Between April and August, Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for about half the delayed projects, recorded peak power supply deficit of 15 per cent. Owing to transmission bottlenecks, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh recorded supply deficits of 2.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively.


BS