The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave approval to the scheme on Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS). Under this, the Committee has nodded for the addition of around 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and approximately 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations.
The scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of approximately 20 GW of Renewable Energy (RE) power projects in seven states namely Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The scheme is targeted to be set up with a total estimated cost of Rs 12,031.33 crore and Central Financial Assistance (CFA) at 33 per cent of the project cost which is Rs 3970.34 crore. The transmission systems will be created over a period of five years from the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26. The Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will help in offsetting the Intra-State transmission charges and thus keep the power costs down. Thus, the Government support will ultimately benefit the end users — the citizens of India.
The scheme will help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. It will also contribute to the long term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing carbon footprint. Further, it will generate large direct and indirect employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled personnel in power and other related sectors.
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This scheme is in addition to GEC-Phase-I which is already under implementation in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for grid integration and power evacuation of approximately 24 GW of renewable energy and is expected to be completed by 2022. The scheme is for the addition of 9700 ckm of transmission lines and 22,600 MVA capacity of substations having estimated cost of transmission projects of Rs 10,141.68 crore with Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs 4056.67 crore.
(With inputs from PIB)