Government In Talks With UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman For 2,000 MW Electricity Line
The project is currently in the discussion stage and awaiting government approval.
The Indian government is in talks with Middle East countries, viz., Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, to set up the first power interconnection or transmission line to facilitate the transfer of electricity between the respective countries.
The high-voltage direct current transmission lines, being set up as part of the multi-modal transport and energy corridor between India, the Middle East, and Europe, will take the undersea route at a depth of 3000–3,500 metres and will initially have a project size of 2,000 megawatts, according to RK Tyagi, chairman and managing director of Power Grid Corp., to a question posed by NDTV Profit at a press conference.
“Power Grid is providing the supporting data, and once the countries principally agree over the modalities, we will take up the execution work,” Tyagi said.
“There will be HVDC receiving substations on both sides to receive the power supplied. In India, the substation will be set up in Gujarat, while all respective countries will have it at their shores,” Tyagi said.
The project is likely to be built up in five years and would entail an investment of around Rs 35,000–40,000 crore, he said.
The project is currently in the discussion stage and awaiting government approval. “Once the project is approved, we will take up the implementation work,” Tyagi said.
At the G20 Summit in September 2023, the Indian government announced a plan to establish a multimodal transport and energy corridor between India and Europe via the Middle East, marking a significant milestone in post-Partition India's pursuit of enhanced connectivity with the northwest regions of the Subcontinent.
Earlier, the Indian government’s plans to have a gas pipeline from Iran and, through TAPI, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline were thwarted by Pakistan as it refused to allow its mainland to be used for the laying of the pipeline, denying India the strategic opportunity to secure cheap energy from neighbouring countries.
