September 13, 2012

According to media reports, Bihar state government has agreed in principle to enter into a long-term joint venture (JV) with PowerGrid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) in the state transmission utility n

etwork.

This was decided at a high-level meeting which was attended by energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, PGCIL CMD R N Nayak, principal secretary energy Ajay V Nayak, BSEB chairman P K Rai, PGCIL director (projects) I S Jha and executive director (eastern region) Bhaskar Sharma.

The formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a period of 25 years is expected to be signed between PGCIL and BSEB soon.

Several funding agencies, including World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Power Finance Corporation (PFC), have also agreed to finance the project which will cost nearly Rs. 6,000 crore.

According to various sources, with this JV project, Bihar’s transmission lines spread throughout the state will be replaced and repaired. The PGCIL is likely to coordinate, supervise and control the complete intrastate transmission system.

With the necessary replacement and repair work of transmission line, the transmission and distribution loss will be drastically cut down. The consumers of Bihar will be getting quality power supply in the state.