BUDGET - BMR Advisors

TransmissionDuring the period FY 2007-08 (March-January), the all Indiainstalled transmission lines increased from 75,722 Km to 81,567Km for 400 kV transmission lines and 114,629 Km to 118,311Km for 220 kV transmission lines.During this period, several inter-regional transmission lines werecommissioned thereby providing stable operations intransferring power from surplus areas to deficit areas. This alsoincluded setting up of first 439 Km 765 kV transmission line.As on December 31, 2007 about 487,351 (ie 82.1 percent)villages stood electrified. In addition, 15.5 million (ie 78.9percent) of the potential pump sets were energized. 39,383villages were covered this year under the Rajiv Gandhi GrameenVidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY). Of this, 21,541 villages wereelectrified.Ultra mega power projectsIndia has envisaged a capacity addition of 100,000 MW to meetits mission of “Power to All by 2012”. To achieve its target ofmeeting the growing requirements of power and to attract privatesector investments a unique initiative of developing Ultra MegaPower Projects (UMPP) under tariff based internationalcompetitive bidding route was launched by the Government.Development of 4,000 MW capacity project through tariff basedbidding process is a first of its kind. To facilitate tie-up of inputsand clearances, project specific shell companies have been setup as wholly owned subsidiaries of Power Finance CorporationLimited (PFC). These companies would take preliminarystudies and obtain clearances relating to water, land and fueland power offtake prior to the tie-up to award of the project.In a view to develop these UMPP’s each with a capacity of 4,000MW, 9 sites have been identified so far. These include 4 pit-headsites and coastal sites. For coastal sites usage of imported coalhas been envisaged. These projects are expected to add about36,000 MW within a span of 7-8 years.Mundra ultra mega power projectA 4,000 MW imported coal-based power project to be set up inGujarat, Mundra ultra mega power project is amongst the firstUMPP’s wherein the Government had invited bids for the projectindiaBUDGET200817