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The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found lacunae in the operations of Central Transmission Utility (CTU), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL).
A CAG report on the planning and implementation of transmission projects by PGCIL said that there was the absence of a network plan that was to be developed by the CTU.
CAG said that under the National Electricity Plan (NEP), issued in November 2012, PGCIL was to coordinate with State Transmission Utilities (STUs) and other stakeholders to prepare a well-coordinated transmission plan for the country.
“However, CTU failed to discharge its key responsibility of preparing an annual network plan based on NEP (November 2012) for transmission capacity addition during 2012-13 to 2016-17,” the CAG report said.
This network plan was required to include projects for new transmission lines and substations and strengthening and upgradation of existing lines.
This has affected forward planning for the development of power transmission infrastructure of the country. “In the absence of network plan, a structured mechanism for timely dissemination of the likely additions or modifications to the transmission system to stakeholders, and for assessing and focusing on the requirement for upgradation of the existing lines in advance was not available,” CAG said.
“The lack of a network plan led to insufficient focus on up-gradation of existing lines in the planning process. “In the absence of a network plan, PGCIL had not prepared any separate plan for upgradation of the existing system. Further, PGCIL did not have a system to assess the need for upgradation before laying new lines, this data was not captured in their records,” the CAG said.
“A structured system of considering the possibility of upgradation of existing lines and considering re-optimisation of the system was not available. During 2012-17, while PGCIL commissioned 233 new lines, upgradation was carried out to only eight lines,” the CAG added.
Transmission lines
There was also a mismatch in planning transmission lines for evacuation of power from generation projects.
“Audit observed that out of eight generation linked transmission projects selected in audit that were completed till July 2018 there was delay in commissioning of six transmission systems associated with generation projects in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha due to which there was congestion in evacuation of power. Also, interim arrangements had to be made for 21 to 56 months to evacuate the power produced by five generating stations,” the CAG report said.
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