In a recent interview with Renewable Watch, Arun Sharma, Chief Executive officer, Resonia Limited, discussed the company’s approach to tackling RoW and land acquisition challenges, the need for innovation in transmission infrastructure, and the critical policy and regulatory reforms required to scale up India’s grid for large-scale renewable energy integration.
How does Resonia Limited tackle land acquisition and RoW issues in densely populated or ecologically sensitive areas?
Resonia recognises that land acquisition and right-of-way (RoW) challenges are among the most critical aspects of transmission infrastructure development especially in densely populated or environmentally sensitive regions. Our approach is rooted in a combination of advanced technology deployment, early community engagement, and close collaboration with local authorities.
To navigate these complex terrains, we leverage LiDAR-based surveys, drone mapping, and helicopter stringing to identify optimal routes that minimise disruption to communities and ecosystems. These tools enable us to plan transmission corridors with greater precision, reducing the need for tree cutting or large-scale displacement. In our projects, we do strategic route realignment based on LiDAR insights helped us avoid ecologically sensitive areas while maintaining project timelines. We are also revolutionising infrastructure development in Rajasthan by deploying cutting-edge construction methods. Drone-based surveys, helicopter stringing, and automated techniques are dramatically accelerating project timelines, reducing costs, and enabling efficient deployment even in challenging terrains with minimal environmental impact.
We have also implemented robust stakeholder engagement practices to build trust with local communities, specifically in our Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Limited, and Udupi Kasargode Transmission Limited projects. By initiating on-ground discussions early in the project lifecycle, we are able to understand and address public concerns transparently and effectively. This has proven crucial in areas where land is densely inhabited or agriculturally significant.
In parallel, our coordination with state governments and public utilities ensures faster issue resolution. In projects where the state acts as an EPC partner, structured weekly reviews and active involvement at the district and tehsil levels have helped accelerate RoW clearances and streamline execution. Additionally, we are modernising RoW processes through IT-enabled escalation systems that enhance transparency and accountability at every stage. These platforms support quick grievance redressal and efficient documentation, significantly reducing project delays linked to land-related issues.
Through this integrated approach combining technology, community-centric planning and institutional collaboration, Resonia continues to deliver critical infrastructure projects that balance development goals with social and environmental sensitivity.
What are the biggest challenges in scaling up transmission infrastructure for renewable energy zones like Ladakh or offshore wind hubs?
India’s transition to a low-carbon economy is accelerating the need to scale up transmission infrastructure, particularly for emerging renewable energy zones such as Ladakh and offshore wind hubs. These regions offer enormous clean energy potential but also present unique technical, environmental, and logistical challenges.
In remote areas like Ladakh, harsh climatic conditions, high altitudes, and difficult terrain significantly constrain construction timelines and workforce mobilisation. The region has been identified to hold 13 GW of solar and wind energy potential, with a dedicated transmission corridor from Ladakh to Haryana under development. This project, involving 765 kV lines via Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, is critical for integrating Ladakh’s clean power into the national grid, but is only expected to be completed by 2029 highlighting the long lead times involved.
Similarly, offshore wind hubs along the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat must overcome marine engineering complexities, subsea cabling, and challenges around coastal access and ecological sensitivities. India has set a 30 GW offshore wind target by 2030, beginning with 2 GW each in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, supported through viability gap funding. These zones hold immense promise, but cost overruns and lack of mature infrastructure have slowed initial deployment.
A key structural challenge is the mismatch in project timelines while renewable energy projects can be commissioned within 18 to 24 months, transmission corridors typically require 5 to 7 years for completion. This disparity often leads to evacuation bottlenecks, undermining the viability and bankability of green energy assets. Further, RoW issues, land acquisition delays, and protracted regulatory approvals especially forest and environmental clearances remain major barriers. In regions with ecological sensitivity, such as Ladakh or coastal belts, these issues become even more pronounced, often stalling critical transmission infrastructure at the planning stage itself.
From a regulatory perspective, the lack of single-window clearances and delays in environmental impact assessments continue to impede project execution. As highlighted in recent policy studies, high T&D losses (around 20 per cent in some regions) and outdated grid infrastructure further exacerbate the challenge of absorbing intermittent renewable power from remote zones into the national grid.
For offshore wind, additional technical hurdles include marine spatial planning, seabed surveys, cable burial, and subsea fault management. The intermittency of wind especially at sites with moderate wind speeds further necessitates complementary solutions such as innovative turbine design, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, and energy storage integration.
What are the challenges facing private sector investment in transmission infrastructure? What policy reforms would you recommend for mitigating these challenges?
India’s ambitious clean energy targets and rapid industrialisation are driving a fundamental transformation in its transmission sector, demanding significant private sector involvement. This collaboration is crucial for developing green energy corridors (GECs) that efficiently transmit renewable energy and for enhancing overall grid capacity to support industrial growth, urban expansion, and electrification of remote areas. The potential for cross-border transmission projects further expands growth avenues for private players. While progress has been made, continuous improvement is essential to accelerate power infrastructure development.
Despite ongoing efforts, persistent regulatory and financial challenges continue to impede private investment and delay project execution. The complexity and unpredictability of securing right-of-way, land acquisition, and environmental clearances, coupled with inconsistencies in regulatory approvals like tariff determination and payment security, significantly undermine investor confidence. Furthermore, a lack of transparency and coordination in long-term transmission planning, especially regarding a centralised pipeline of upcoming projects or clear insights into future renewable energy zones, makes it difficult for private developers to assess project viability and strategically allocate capital.
Financing remains a crucial barrier, as transmission projects demand large upfront capital with long gestation periods but often face limited access to affordable, long-term finance. To overcome this, India needs to explore blended financing models, viability gap funding, and incentives such as green bonds. Strengthening public-private partnerships with equitable risk-sharing and efficient dispute resolution mechanisms will be vital to attract institutional investment at scale. Digital interventions like GIS-based right-of-way tracking, online approvals, and real-time project monitoring can streamline processes and boost transparency. Additionally, policy measures such as waiving Interstate Transmission System charges for green corridors, offering tax benefits for private developers, and expediting clearances can enhance project bankability. As India aims for 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, aligning central and state policies, embracing advanced technologies, and integrating private sector timelines into national transmission plans will be essential for building a robust, future-ready grid.
To unlock private investment, India needs to implement key policy reforms. Simplifying land acquisition and expediting environmental clearances are paramount, as these are major roadblocks causing costly delays and raising investment risks. A more accommodating financial environment is also necessary, which includes providing incentives like tax breaks, green bonds, or subsidies for renewable energy transmission projects, and offering greater clarity in guidelines for financing large-scale projects to mitigate risks for private developers. Addressing the high interest rates during construction (currently 9-10 per cent) by strengthening financial frameworks is critical.
Moreover, there’s a strong need for more collaborative frameworks between the public and private sectors for GEC development, and policies that encourage the adoption of modern digital technologies like smart grids and predictive analytics for improved efficiency and reliability. Focusing on domestic manufacturing of subsea cables through capital subsidies and other initiatives will also support the sector’s growth.
How prepared is India’s grid infrastructure for handling the variability and intermittency of renewable sources like solar and wind?
India’s national grid is making significant strides toward integrating large-scale solar and wind, but faces notable challenges in fully handling their variability and intermittency.
Current state of preparedness
Rapid renewable growth and ambitious targets: To meet the country’s ambitious 500 GW target, India’s renewable sector will need to double its annual capacity addition to 50 GW over 2025-2030, according to S&P Global Ratings. This rapid expansion will be testing the grid’s ability to manage the unpredictable output from solar and wind sources, which depend on weather patterns and can fluctuate sharply throughout the day.
- Transmission bottlenecks: The best solar and wind resources are concentrated in states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, while the highest demand is in industrial and urban centers such as Delhi-NCR and Maharashtra. The current transmission network struggles to move power efficiently from generation sites to demand centers, resulting in congestion and curtailment—where available renewable energy cannot be delivered to consumers. For example, Rajasthan’s solar-rich grid has experienced 5 per cent – 10 per cent curtailment during peak sunlight hours due to overloaded infrastructure. To address this, the Government of India has implemented the GEC programme in two phases, aimed at enabling smooth evacuation of renewable power from generation hubs to load centers. In addition, Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) schemes have been deployed to support long-distance renewable transfer.
- Storage shortfalls: Energy storage is a critical bottleneck. As of March 2024, India had only 7 GW of pumped hydro and 219 MWh of battery energy storage, far below the 60.63 GW needed by 2030 to buffer renewable variability. The government has initiated pilot tenders for battery energy storage systems, which are expected to be scaled up in the coming years.
- Grid flexibility and modernisation: While studies confirm that India’s coal-dominated grid has some inherent flexibility to absorb renewable fluctuations—especially with flexible coal plant operations—further modernisation is essential. Upgrades include high-capacity transmission lines, advanced substations, and deployment of smart grid technologies like real-time monitoring, automation, and predictive analytics. These tools help utilities manage dynamic supply and demand, reduce losses, and respond quickly to disturbances.
Government initiatives supporting grid preparedness
The Government of India has rolled out multiple initiatives to strengthen grid infrastructure in anticipation of higher renewable integration:
- GEC phase I & II: Designed to support evacuation from renewable-rich states like Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, these projects include transmission lines, substations, and real-time monitoring tools.
- ISTS projects: Funded through viability gap funding, these projects enhance inter-regional connectivity, enabling solar and wind power to flow from surplus regions to demand centers.
- Renewable energy zones: Pre-identified zones with high renewable potential have been integrated into national transmission planning to avoid congestion and ensure timely evacuation.
- Smart grid and SCADA integration: Through programmes like RDSS, advanced control systems (SCADA, WAMS, EMS) are being deployed to support automation, forecasting, and real-time decision-making.
- Wind-solar hybrid and ToD policies: Hybrid projects are being promoted to balance solar-day and wind-evening patterns, while Time-of-Day tariffs and AI-based forecasting improve demand-supply matching.
Strategies and solutions
- Massive investment required: Achieving the 2030 target will require an estimated Rs 2,442 billion (about €26.86 billion) investment in grid expansion, including 50,890 circuit kms of new transmission lines and major substation upgrades.
- Smart grid and storage deployment: Accelerated rollout of smart meters, automation, and large-scale battery storage will be crucial to improve real-time balancing and grid resilience.
- National and regional coordination: Enhanced coordination of scheduling and dispatch at both national and regional levels can smooth variability and broaden system flexibility, reducing the risk of curtailment and outages.
As renewable energy capacities grow, what upgrades are urgently needed in India’s transmission and distribution systems to handle new load profiles?
India has undertaken significant initiatives to upgrade its T&D systems to integrate growing renewable energy capacities. Key actions include the establishment of GEC for dedicated renewable power evacuation, substantial expansion of the ISTS with ambitious targets for new lines and transformation capacity under the National Electricity Plan 2023-32. However, to fully integrate the increasing renewable energy capacity and manage evolving load profiles, several urgent upgrades are necessary.
A primary concern is the need for faster transmission expansion, as current development struggles to keep pace with the rapid growth of solar and wind projects. This disparity in gestation periods often leads to grid congestion and the curtailment of renewable energy. Enhanced grid flexibility is also paramount due to the variable nature of solar and wind power. This requires advanced forecasting and AI tools for more accurate real-time predictions of renewable generation, as well as the retrofitting of flexible conventional generation with control systems that allow for faster ramp-up and ramp-down.
Addressing geographic mismatches, where renewable resources are concentrated away from demand centers, necessitates robust long-distance transmission infrastructure to minimise losses. Beyond transmission, the modernisation of the distribution network is crucial to reduce technical and commercial losses, integrate distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, and manage bi-directional power flows through the implementation of smart meters, advanced fault detection systems, and automated grid management tools.
Developing a skilled workforce capable of operating, managing, and maintaining advanced grid technologies is essential for this transition. Streamlining permitting processes and ensuring supply chain resilience for key components like transformers and cables are vital to accelerate grid expansion, and strengthening cybersecurity measures is crucial as the grid becomes more digitalised.
While India is actively engaged in a massive grid transformation, continuous and accelerated efforts in transmission build-out, smart grid deployment, energy storage solutions, and policy reforms are indispensable for a stable, reliable, and sustainable energy future.
Are there specific innovations you’re pursuing to enable faster deployment of transmission infrastructure for renewable projects?
As the energy landscape evolves with a growing share of renewables, Resonia is deploying next-generation technologies to build a more flexible and reliable transmission network. Our approach integrates high-capacity transmission infrastructure with cutting-edge digital innovations to strengthen grid performance, minimise losses, and ensure seamless long-distance power transfer.
We are leveraging cutting-edge digital tools such as AI, IoT, and smart grid technologies to transform how we plan, monitor, and manage our transmission networks. We are also deploying AI-driven predictive maintenance solutions, which use advanced analytics to anticipate equipment failures before they occur. This has significantly improved network uptime, reduced unplanned outages, and optimised maintenance schedules, ultimately enhancing grid stability.
Dynamic Line Rating is another innovation we are adopting to maximise asset utilisation. By analysing real-time weather and loading data, DLR enables us to adjust the capacity of transmission lines dynamically, ensuring optimal power flow and reducing bottlenecks. In planning and execution, LiDAR-based route surveys and digital simulations have allowed us to accelerate project timelines, improve route accuracy, and minimise environmental disruption. These technologies ensure smarter asset placement and better integration with existing infrastructure.
We are extensively using high-voltage transmission lines including 765kV and 400kV systems to enable bulk power evacuation with lower transmission losses. Projects like the Lakadia-Vadodara Transmission Project (LVTPL) and Mumbai Urja Marg have been designed around this principle to efficiently move green energy from renewable hubs to high-demand regions. LVTPL is a significant 350 km corridor that effectively links Gujarat’s renewable energy zones to the national grid. This project, capable of transmitting 8,000 MW of clean energy, has been crucial in evacuating green power, significantly curbing carbon emissions, and has already supplied 5,000 MW to the grid since its commissioning, substantially boosting energy access and sustainability goals.
Another notable achievement is our Nangalbibra-Bongaigaon transmission line, commissioned in November 2024. Spanning a challenging 300 km across the North-Eastern terrain, it enables over 1,000 MW of electricity transfer between Meghalaya and Assam, complete with a 300 MVA substation and extensive intra-state lines, ensuring seamless integration and improved power access.
By embracing digitalisation across the project lifecycle — from design to operation — we are creating a resilient and agile transmission ecosystem that supports India’s growing energy needs and accelerates the transition to a greener grid.
