New Delhi, July 13: The government today approved two transmission projects of the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd involving a total investment of Rs 5,778.47 crore.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has given its go-ahead to PowerGrid’s Rs 5,221.23-crore project to strengthen the western grid. “All the constituents of the western grid project will benefit from this,” parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi told reporters after the meeting.

The CCEA has also approved the transmission line associated with the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation’s (NHPC) 520-mw hydro power plant in Himachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 557.24 crore. “The western grid project would facilitate drawal and dispersal of power, imported from other regions, to various load centres of the western region and improve the reliability of the regional grid,” Das Munshi added.

The government plans to strengthen the western grid in two phases. While the first part will be executed by PGCIL at an investment of Rs 3,581.40 crore, the second phase will be implemented through a 100 per cent private participation at a cost of Rs 1,639.83 crore.

The western region is facing a peak demand deficit of about 5,000-6,000 mw. During the last 4-5 years, the addition to the capacity in the region has not been sufficient compared with the demand growth.

Under the draft National Electricity Plan prepared by the Central Electricity Authority for transmission, power demand in the region is expected to grow at the rate of about 7.5 per cent and increase to about 41,670 mw by 2008-09.