Transmission sector needs ₹5 lakh crore investment for future needs

  1. Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) has said that India’s vision of a 5 trillion-dollar economy will require an estimated investment of Rs 5 lakh crore in the transmission sector over the next few years.
  2. CII said that India will be consuming 1.8 trillion units by 2025 as India’s growth trajectory accelerates and this requires large investments in the transmission sector particularly at the state level. 
  3. CII has recommended the separation of the Central Transmission Utility from the Power Grid Corporation of India since the set up is currently creating a conflict of interest between the two.
  4. CII also highlighted the fact that current guidelines for the construction of transmission lines as laid out by the Central Electricity Authority did not leave enough scope for adopting new technologies.This increases the capital expenditure and the per unit tariff.
  5. CII has also recommend (a)upgrading capacities within existing infrastructure (b)redefining the scope of planning for the centre which should be based on the capacity of the transmission line instead of the geography where the same is located and (c)need to bring in competition and move away from the cost-plus approach or regulated tariff mechanisms.
  6. The Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) is a business association in India.It is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry managed organization.