India’s power transmission build-out is facing rising execution risks, with industry flagging that critical renewable-linked projects are being awarded to inexperienced developers, potentially threatening grid reliability and delaying energy transition targets.
In a communication to the ministry of power, the Electric Power Transmission Association (EPTA) has highlighted that several key transmission projects awarded in FY26 lack adequate developer experience, raising concerns over timely commissioning and system stability.
“I am writing to draw your kind attention to the timely commissioning of transmission projects to meet Indian renewable energy integration targets as well as ensure grid reliability and security,” the association said, underscoring the urgency of the issue.
Transmission projects
The industry body highlighted that transmission projects — critical for evacuating renewable power require specialised capabilities including right-of-way acquisition, land aggregation, statutory clearances and multi-agency coordination, apart from strong operations and maintenance systems.
Flagging systemic risks, EPTA said transmission assets are highly interconnected, and failure in one project can trigger cascading disruptions across the grid, affecting large volumes of renewable energy connectivity.
The concerns are backed by past precedents. Projects awarded to developers such as Essel Infra and Isolux Corsan have seen delays ranging from four years to over six years, along with ownership transfers due to non-performance and financial stress.
“Thus, awarding critical transmission projects to entirely inexperienced players significantly increases risks for both the transmission segment and the overall power sector,” EPTA said.
Aggregate capacity thresholds
At present, under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) framework, bidders are required to meet aggregate capacity thresholds that can be drawn from any infrastructure sector, a provision the industry body said does not adequately capture sector-specific expertise.
To address the gap, EPTA has proposed that bidders or lead consortium members should have developed and successfully commissioned transmission assets within the past five years, with at least one year of operational experience post commissioning.
The association stressed that while expanding participation in transmission development is necessary, it must be aligned with robust prequalification norms to ensure execution reliability and long-term system outcomes.
With India rapidly scaling up renewable energy capacity and transmission infrastructure to support it, the industry has cautioned that delays or failures attributable to weak developer capabilities could undermine grid security and clean energy integration, making stricter qualification norms imperative at this stage.
The concerns come even as renewable energy curtailment levels rise sharply, highlighting mounting stress on the country’s grid infrastructure. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air’s (CREA) latest quarterly energy snapshot, around 27 GW of solar and 4 GW of wind capacity were directly curtailed during Q4 FY26, while a much larger volume was curtailed under Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Services (TRAS), including about 83 GW of solar and 11 GW of wind.
Solar accounted for nearly 88% of total curtailment, with losses peaking in March. Curtailment was concentrated in high-renewable states, particularly Gujarat, where large solar parks such as Khavda recorded the highest levels.
“The data indicates that operational challenges, including limited transmission capacity, inflexible thermal generation and inadequate storage, are increasingly constraining renewable integration,” CREA said.