The government is planning a renewed push to demerge the Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) from Power Grid Corporation of India and subsequently merge it with Grid Controller of India (Grid India), people aware of the development said. CTUIL is a subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation and is undertaking transmission of electricity through the inter-state transmission system and related planning and coordination as the nodal agency. CTUIL functions as India’s central transmission utility-central planner, coordinator and facilitator for the inter-state transmission system.
Power Grid was earlier designated the central transmission utility but a separate company was incorporated under the power ministry in 2021 to carry out these functions as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation. As per the latest discussions, Grid India may be re-notified as the central transmission utility after the merger, the people said. The plan is being discussed to avoid a conflict of interest while awarding power transmission projects and have a structured system and coordination for transmission capacity addition.
The move will provide a level playing field to all the players bidding for transmission projects, one of the persons said. A proposal on the same was made by the power ministry in 2023 to transfer the ownership of CTUIL to Grid India, but the matter did not reach an effective conclusion, according to the person.
The government has more recently asked Grid India to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for the demerger, one of the persons said.
Emails sent to Grid India, Power Grid and the power ministry did not elicit a response till the time of filing the report.
Grid India, also under the power ministry, operates India’s electricity grid through the National Load Despatch Centre and five regional load despatch centres. “The idea now is to provide an anchor to run the transmission capacity addition and related bidding in projects,” an industry official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Source: Reuters.com