To strengthen power transmission, the government would award projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the coming six months, said Minister of State for Coal, Power and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal.

“We are planning to award power transmission projects through tariff-based competitive bidding to bring in private sector investment in the sector. In the coming six months, we target to award projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore,” Goyal told reporters.

According to a Ficci report in 2013, an investment of about $35 billion has to be made in the transmission sector to meet the upcoming generation capacity. Of this, $16 billion —46 per cent of the total investments — needs to be secured from private players, said the report.

The transmission sector was opened up for private participation in 2010, with the award of Western Regional System Strengthening to Reliance Infra and East-North Interconnection line to Sterlite.

However, state-run Power Grid Corporation of India has a monopoly in the market, with the government allotting more than 45 per cent projects to it. It has a market share of 99 per cent. Currently, PowerGrid has more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore order book of central as well as state-funded projects. Currently, it has 15 major transmission projects pending due to land acquisition issues and delay in power generation installation.

The Central government in the last Budget granted of Rs 1.1 lakh crore for a comprehensive power infrastructure upgradation plan across India under two schemes -- Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana for rural India and Integrated Power Development Scheme for urban India -- to meet its poll promise of 24x7, affordable power for all.