Power Grid Corporation of India and Tata Power are planning a joint venture to lay a power transmission line from Bhutan to India.

The 1,786 km transmission line, costing around Rs.1,200 crore, would travel from Bhutan to New Delhi, en route Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Tata Power would own 75 per cent of the equity in the joint venture that would build and operate the transmission line, while PGCIL would hold the remainder.

This is the first time that PGCIL has tied up with a private sector partner for a power transmission line. It may be mentioned that PGCIL has a transmission network of 40,000 km and carries 40 per cent of the total power generated in India. The company has plans to increase its network length to 1 lakh km, in the next ten years.

The power transmitted would be sourced from a 1,020 MW hydel power plant being set up in Bhutan. The plant, to be constructed independently by Bhutan, is expected to be ready by 2005.

Sourcing power from Bhutan is favourable to both countries since Bhutan has excess power generating capacity (mostly hydel), while power shortages are acute in North India, especially during summer.