New Delhi: India’s clean-energy push is now testing the country’s ability to connect and commercialize projects. State-run Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) has revoked transmission connectivity approvals for 6.3GW of green power capacity over delays in project development, Union minister of state for power Shripad Naik said on Monday.
In a written reply to a query in Rajya Sabha, the minister said there were 16 petitions pending before the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) that pertain to cases where the power generators have approached the regulator seeking protection from revocation of connectivity.
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“Since 2022, Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) has revoked connectivity of 24 grantees with a renewable energy (RE) capacity of 6,343MW. The cancellations are on account of developer delays and not due to transmission side delays,” the minister said.
An Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) for the evacuation of 172 GW of renewable energy is already under construction, and bids are in process for 19 GW capacity, he added. The Centre is also working with the states to ensure timely development of respective intra-state transmission systems for the evacuation of 152GW of renewable energy.
“These efforts, together with the planned transmission systems for integrating hydro, nuclear, and other non-fossil capacities, collectively provide a clear implementation plan for achieving the 500 GW non-fossil capacity target,” the minister said.
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The statement comes at a time when the renewable energy sector has been affected by curtailing of power generation and piling unsigned power purchase agreements.
Mint had earlier reported that solar power producers in Rajasthan have dialled down production, after a congested grid prompted the regional regulator to step in.
A total of nearly 44GW of renewable power is yet to find buyers and power purchase agreements have not been signed.
Addition in transmission space has been lagging amid issues such as land acquisition and right of way (RoW). In FY25, 8,830 circuit kilometres (ckm) were added, nearly 38% less than the 14,203 ckm added in FY24, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data showed. Overall, India has a power transmission network of 495,405 ckm, and as per the National Electricity Plan, an additional 191,000 ckm of transmission lines would be required by FY32.
These issues are significant, as prolonged delays risk slowing India’s plan to add 50 GW of renewable capacity each year to reach 500 GW by 2030. Recently, the Centre ordered state-owned power procurers to cancel awarded contracts where it’s not feasible to sign power sale and purchase agreements.
Mint had earlier reported that the power ministry has asked renewable energy implementation agencies to cancel projects for which power supply and purchase agreements have not been signed. The energy ministry had on 4 November said that any cancellation would take place in a phased manner only after all viable options for executing power sale and purchase pacts were fully explored.
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A report by the parliamentary standing committee on energy, submitted in Parliament on Monday, showed that as on 30 June, 2025, of the total installed capacity of 485 GW, around 243 GW came from non-fossil sources, comprising about 50% of the total installed capacity.
Highlighting challenges in the green power space, the report, however, said the committee had noted “several challenges in implementation of renewable energy projects (including solar energy) viz. delays in land acquisition and connectivity approvals as well as lack of storage facilities and domestic manufacturing”.
The panel said it expects the ministry of new and renewable energy and other stakeholders “to diligently follow the planned roadmap to remove the above-mentioned constraints and achieve the targets on time”.