Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) recently commissioned its fifth 400kV double circuit transmission line in Maharashtra through its subsidiary Reliance Power Transmission Ltd (RPTL).
The 311-km Pune-Parli line that will connect key industrial centres of Maharashtra like Pune, Aurangabad and Beed is part of the Western Region System Strengthening Scheme-II (WRSSS-II) project The line is instrumental in the interconnection of the country's western and southern grids.
"This is India's first ever 100 per cent privately owned interstate transmission project of the National Grid and we at Reliance Infrastructure are proud to be implementing it. On completion, the project would enable evacuation of surplus power of about 4000 mw from the Eastern part of the country to the Western region," noted RInfra CEO Lalit Jalan in a statement.
The 1,500-km long WRSS project to be executed at a cost of about Rs.1,700 crore was awarded to Reliance Infrastructure through tariff-based International competitive bidding process. The project has been executed under build, own and operate (BOO) pattern.
With this Pune-Parli line, RInfra has so far commissioned five out of the total of six Maharashtra-located lines of the WRSS-II scheme. The earlier four are LILO of Solapur – Karad; LILO of Lonikand–Kalwa, Parli–Solapur and Solapur–Kolhapur. The sixth and the last line in the project in Maharashtra, between Pune and Aurangabad are expected to be commissioned soon.
According to information available with Electrical Monitor, the WRSS-II project has a total of nine lines—six in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat. RInfra has so far commissioned two lines in Gujarat, which are Limdi-Vadavi and Vadavi-Kansari. The third— a 400kV DC line running 240 km from Rajgarh to Karamsad—is pending completion.
