Ministry of Power Relaxes Load Serving Substations Radius to 5 Km in ISTS Projects
The Ministry of Power has amended the Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) for procuring inter-state transmission services (ISTS) via tariff-based competitive bidding. The permissible location radius for load-serving substations has been increased to 5 km from the earlier limit of 3 km.
April 07, 2025. By Mrinmoy Dey
These amendments apply to the establishment, operation, and maintenance of transmission projects developed on a build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) basis. They aim to ease land acquisition challenges while enhancing the feasibility and flexibility of such projects.
Under the modified SBDs, the earlier requirement of setting up load-serving substations within a strict 3 km radius of specified locations has been relaxed to 5 km. This is expected to offer developers greater on-ground flexibility.
However, the existing limit for setting up generation pooling substations at 3 km remains unchanged. The 10 km limit for intermediate substations has also been retained.
This amendment, although seems minor up front, carries significant implications for developers. It will not only simplify land acquisition, but also facilitate better alignment with topography, clearances, and local constraints.
The change is aimed at making projects more bankable and executable while reducing delays and cost overruns.
A lot of ISTS projects have faced delays due to multiple issues including prolonged Right-of-Way (RoW) issues. Moreover, ISTS projects remain critical as India accelerates toward its goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity.
With the changing mix of power sources, the intermittent nature of renewable sources like solar and wind makes the upgradation of the transmission infrastructure necessary. In this context, ISTS projects must match the fast-paced development of RE projects. This amendment marks another important step in the right direction to boost speed, scale and adaptability.
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