The union power ministry has transferred the 220 kV Srinagar-Drass-Kargil-Khaltsi-Leh transmission link to state run Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
The 335-km-long strategic power link connects the Ladakh region to the national grid and is at a height of 3,000-4,000 meter.
“It comprises of four new state-of-the-art 220/66 kV Gas Insulated Sub-stations and 66 kV interconnection systems at Drass, Kargil, Khaltsi and Leh,” the union power ministry said in a statement.
PGCIL’s transmission network has 169,829 circuit km of transmission lines, 257 substations and 105 gigawatts (GW) of inter-regional electricity transmission capacity.
“The project was executed by POWERGRID on consultancy basis under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) Scheme. Subsequent to reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) into UTs of J&K and Ladakh, the 220 kV Srinagar-Leh Transmission System has been re-designated as Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) and transferred to POWERGRID with effect from 31.10.2019, the date of formation of the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh,” the statement on Friday added.
The state-run firm is no longer the Central transmission utility (CTU) having the sole right to build transmission projects in the country. This has opened new areas of businesses for PGCIL. Some of the areas that the power transmission major is exploring include generation, distribution, electric mobility and green hydrogen.
