The Power Ministry has sought the Cabinet’s approval to hive off the Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) as an independent company.
Currently, POSOCO operates as a 100 per cent subsidiary of PowerGrid Corporation of India.
“The company would work towards operating and maintaining the national electricity grid,” said a Senior Power Ministry official.
POSOCO would be responsible for maintaining discipline on the electricity grid and would have powers to levy a fine on defaulters.
However, it will not be a regulator or a quasi-judicial body but would be a professional company. It will not set up transmission lines by itself, he said.
The move to make POSOCO independent is to attract more private investment into the transmission business. Currently, electricity transmission in the country is dominated by PowerGrid.
The Government is planning to auction transmission projects worth more than Rs 20,000 crore. The projects are in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
International players such as the Spain-based Isolux Corsan and UK-based Balfour Beatty Infra have evinced interest in bidding for transmission projects in India.
Even the domestic players such as Sterlite Industries, Adani Power, L&T Infra and Tata Projects are also looking to expand their portfolios in the transmission business.