CERC grants ASTL licence, directs NLC to bear full transmission cost

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted a transmission licence to Angul Sundargarh Transmission Limited (ASTL) for the Eastern Region Generation Scheme-I (ERGS-I) on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis. The Commission also ruled that the entire transmission charges for the project will be borne solely by NLC India Limited (NLC), instead of being pooled across users.

The project involves Line-In-Line-Out (LILO) of both circuits of the 765 kV Angul–Sundargarh (Jharsuguda) double circuit line at the NLC Talabira switchyard. The infrastructure is intended for evacuation of power from the Talabira thermal project.

ASTL was initially incorporated by PFC Consulting Limited (PFCCL) as bid process coordinator. Following tariff-based competitive bidding, H.G. Infra Engineering Limited emerged as the successful bidder with annual transmission charges of Rs 431.11 million and subsequently acquired the SPV. The Scheduled Commercial Operation Date is March 28, 2028.

CERC observed that the scheme is functionally akin to a dedicated transmission line for NLC Talabira, which would ordinarily not fall under the interstate transmission system requiring a licence. However, since the project had been approved under the TBCB route and contractual arrangements were in place, the Commission granted the licence to avoid implementation delays.

At the same time, it directed that the cost burden should not be socialised. The Commission ordered that transmission charges be recovered entirely from NLC, with Central Transmission Utility of India Limited (CTUIL) billing the generator directly and remitting payments to ASTL, bypassing the standard sharing mechanism.

The licence has been granted for 25 years and includes conditions on compliance with grid standards, provision of open access, and competitive procurement of EPC contracts. CERC also directed CTUIL and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to monitor project execution.

The order was issued by a bench comprising Jishnu Barua and Members Ramesh Babu V., Harish Dudani, and Ravinder Singh Dhillon.

The featured photograph is for representation only.