The Union Cabinet has approved the Green Energy Corridor Phase-III (GEC-III) scheme to strengthen India’s Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS) and enable the evacuation of up to 135 GW of renewable energy across States and Union Territories. The scheme also includes the deployment of 50 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
Under GEC-III, 50 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems will be deployed at the Renewable Energy developer or generator end, or at other locations considered important for grid flexibility. The BESS deployment will address renewable energy intermittency, transmission congestion, peak-hour curtailment and non-solar hour demand.
The scheme is targeted to be set up by FY 2032-33 and has a total project outlay of Rs 1,86,405 crore. This includes Rs 1,36,378 crore for the development of Intra-State Transmission Systems under GEC-III and Rs 50,000 crore for 50 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems. The scheme involves total Central Financial Support of Rs 54,082 crore.
The Central Financial Assistance will help offset Intra-State transmission charges and keep power costs down. The government said the scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation within States and Union Territories as renewable energy deployment expands.
All greenfield projects under the Intra-State Transmission System component will be implemented through the Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) mode. Brownfield upgradation and network-strengthening works will be executed under the Cost Plus Basis (CPB). State Transmission Utilities will act as the overall implementing agencies, while Transmission Service Providers will participate under TBCB through a Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (BOOM) model.
The government said the scheme will support India’s target of achieving 900 GW of installed non-fossil capacity by 2035. It is also expected to contribute to long-term energy security and ecologically sustainable growth by reducing the carbon footprint. The scheme will generate direct and indirect employment in the power, manufacturing and construction sectors, while BESS manufacturing and deployment will create employment in the domestic energy storage industry and support skilled employment in operations, maintenance and grid management.
