The Power Ministry on Thursday revised the terms of reference of the National Committee on Transmission (NCT) to fast-track Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) planning and approval process which will facilitate renewable energy development and integration in the power system, it said in a statement.

Two consultations

Presently, all ISTS systems are approved by the Power Ministry based on the recommendation of the NCT. To expedite approval of ISTS, the power to approve ISTS projects costing up to ₹500 crore has been delegated. Now, the proposal of expansion of ISTS upto ₹100 crore will be approved by central transmission utility (CTU) and the proposal costing between ₹100 crore and ₹500 crore will be approved by NCT. The Power Ministry will approve proposals costing more than ₹500 crore.

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In the ISTS planning and approval process, there were two regional committees — Regional Power Committee (RPC) and Regional Power Committee (Transmission Planning) (RPC-TP) — which had to be consulted separately, delaying the process of planning and approval of ISTS.

Dissolution of RPC-TP

In order to avoid duplication in regional consultation and to reduce the time taken for planning process, RPC-TP has been dissolved and the term of reference of RPC is being modified to facilitate regional consultation in ISTS planning and approval process. It has been provided that CTU, after consulting RPC, shall submit the proposal for expansion of Inter-State Transmission System to the NCT for their consideration. For proposals up to ₹500 crores, prior consultation with RPC would not be required.

“After considering the recommendations of the CTU and views of the RPCs, the NCT shall propose expansion of ISTS. NCT shall examine the cost of the proposed ISTS scheme, and formulate the packages for the proposed transmission schemes for their implementation. NCT meetings are to be held every quarter, and monthly if required,” the release said.

Previous reforms

In a series of major reforms carried out earlier on the direction of the Power Minister, R K Singh, the Ministry had separated the Central Transmission Utility from POWERGRID to provide transparency and a level playing field in the bids for transmission; reduced the lock-in period for transmission projects in order to attract investments and more competition; and promulgated the Rules for General Network Access which radically simplified the process of getting connectivity to the ISTS network.

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Thereafter, the Ministry issued the Right of Consumer rules which empower consumers and lays down the ceiling for late payment surcharge.