The board of Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID) has approved raising unsecured, non-convertible, non-cumulative, redeemable, and taxable bonds for ₹9 billion (~$109.73 million) through private placement.

The funds will be raised through the securitization of cash flows of its special purpose vehicle — POWERGRID Mithilanchal Transmission – until the financial year (FY) 2033.

The base issue size of the bonds will be ₹3 billion (~$36.58 million), whereas the greenshoe option will be ₹6 billion (~$73.15 million). The bonds will be redeemable at par in 40 equal installments, and the interest payment will be quarterly.

Government-owned POWERGRID is India’s largest electric power transmission utility and operates about 86% of the country’s inter-regional networks.

With India setting an ambitious goal of installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, integrating renewables into the national grid along with conventional sources of energy is a critical component of the country’s energy transition program.

Last December, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh unveiled a comprehensive plan to evacuate the planned renewable power capacity of 500 GW by 2030 at an estimated cost of ₹2.44 trillion (~$29.75 billion).

The power transmission infrastructure required to evacuate 500 GW of non-fossil fuel includes 8,120 circuit kilometers of high voltage DC transmission corridors, 25,960 circuit kilometers of 765 kV AC lines, 15,758 circuit kilometers of 400 kV lines, and 1,052 circuit kilometers of 220 kV cable.

The ministry has identified Fatehgarh, Bhadla, Bikaner, Khavda, Anantapur, Kurnool, and offshore wind potential in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, along with Ladakh as the potential renewable generation centers, for which the transmission systems will be developed.

Recently, POWERGRID won three ISTS projects in the tariff-based competitive bidding process. The company won the first project for a transmission system to evacuate power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase-II Part E on a build, own, operate, and maintain basis.

POWERGRID was also declared the successful bidder to set up an ISTS for two projects in the country’s western region on a build, own, operate, and transfer basis.

The first project is the Western Region Expansion program-XXVII (WRES-XXVII). POWERGRID will lay a 400 kV D/C transmission line passing through Chhattisgarh along with bay extension works at two sub-stations.

The second project will be executed in two parts— WRES-XXVIII and WRES-XXIX. The scope of work comprises bay extension works and the creation of 220 kV voltage at two sub-stations in Chhattisgarh.

Earlier, POWERGRID announced that its board had approved an investment proposal of ₹3.31 billion (~$40.4 million) for the transmission system to evacuate 20 GW of power from renewable energy zones in Rajasthan under Phase-III Part-J.