New Delhi, February 24 – The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved on Tuesday an enhanced delegation of powers to Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), increasing the company's permissible equity investment limit from the current threshold of Rs 5,000 crore per subsidiary to Rs 7,500 crore per subsidiary – while retaining the existing cap of 15 per cent of the company's net worth.
The approval was granted under the extant guidelines dated February 4, 2010, of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on the delegation of powers applicable to Maharatna CPSEs.
According to an official statement, the approval will enable POWERGRID, the largest and most experienced transmission service provider in the country, to expand its investment in its core business and support the evacuation of renewable energy capacity, helping achieve the target of 500 GW from non-fossil-based sources.
The statement further said that POWERGRID can now participate in bids for capital-intensive transmission projects, such as Ultra High Voltage Alternating Current (UHVAC) and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission networks.
Additionally, it will broaden competition in the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) for the selection of bidders for critical transmission projects.
"This ensures better price discovery, and ultimately leads to the availability of affordable and clean energy for consumers," the CCEA said.
POWERGRID, the central transmission utility, recently announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of this fiscal. The public sector company reported robust growth in profitability.
Standalone profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 4,160.17 crore – a 6.8 per cent increase from Rs 3,894.09 crore in Q3 FY25. Standalone revenue from operations was Rs 11,052.28 crore, up year-on-year from Rs 10,120.72 crore.
The Board of Directors approved several significant proposals, including a second interim dividend of Rs 3.25 per equity share (32.5 per cent on the face value of Rs 10) for FY 2025-26. The dividend will be paid on February 27, 2026.