The growing complexity of India’s transmission infrastructure development has highlighted a problem private project developers face: they can complete their work but still can’t start commercial operations on time.
Transmission projects are increasingly dependent on several interconnected facilities being commissioned together.
Because different companies develop different sections of a network, delays in one project can hold up another’s operation.
This can leave a developer with completed infrastructure but no opportunity to begin earning revenue from it.
The Electric Power Transmission Association (EPTA) has raised this concern with the Ministry of Power and sought changes to the existing rules for inter-state transmission projects awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding.
The association wants the project framework to recognise situations in which developers are unable to commission their assets because supporting infrastructure under another contract remains incomplete.
It has proposed that such cases should qualify for a deemed commercial operation date (COD), along with full tariff recovery and protection from contractual penalties.
EPTA has also called for greater accountability from Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) in coordinating the development of interconnected transmission facilities.
The issue is particularly relevant to projects involving transmission lines, substations, bays and reactors, where the readiness of one component can determine whether the entire arrangement becomes operational.
Through these changes, the association is seeking to ensure that transmission developers are not made financially responsible for delays caused by other project participants or infrastructure that falls outside their control.
