Is Gujarat 'power-full' enough?

The state-owned electric transmission company — Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI) — is all set to connect western power grid and southern power grid by the end of January 2014.

A transmission line, connecting Raichur in Karnataka and Solapur in Maharashtra, will allow power-surplus states like Gujarat to sell power to southern states.

Till now, Gujarat was not able to sell power directly to the southern power grid as the western and southern grids were not connected. By covering the distance of up to 300 km by next month, PGCI transmission lines will allow Gujarat to sell about 2,100 MW of power.

This project is already under implementation and the company will commercially launch the transmission line next month, said B Mishra, executive director (corporate planning & IT), PGCI. “It is a single line electric transmission of 765 kv having the capacity to transmit 2,100 MW of power.

Till now, the southern power grid was not connected with the entire country. But with this transmission line, the whole country will have a single power grid,” he added.

This means that any western, northern and eastern state will be able to sell or buy power from the southern states. “At present, only Gujarat is the surplus western state which can sell power to other regions, including southern states,” said Mishra, adding that because of various power projects such as solar, wind and others in the state, Gujarat is able to generate surplus power.

“Gujarat has been demanding connectivity between southern and western power grids. We will be ready with the infrastructure. Now, it is up to the state to decide whether it wants to buy or sell power,” he contended.