PMO to Monitor Mumbai Urja Marg (MUML) through PRAGATI Portal

NEW DELHI:
Mumbai Urja Marg Limited (MUML), a critical power transmission infrastructure project in Mumbai, is now part of PRAGATI portal. It is a monitoring platform through which Prime Minister oversees the implementation of important state and central projects of national importance by directly interacting with the respective stakeholders through videoconferencing.

Maharashtra’s economy is growing at a rapid pace and its energy demands will witness unprecedented rise in the coming days as the state is geared up to achieve its trillion-dollar economy ambitions. The peak power demand has touched 3,600 MW in the 2019-20 summers and is expected to soar to 5,000 MW by 2024-25 and further to 6,000 MW by 2030. However, the gap between the demand and supply of energy is rising fast, owing to an inadequate transmission network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), as clearly pointed out by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Post the 2020 power outages that afflicted Mumbai, CEA also underscored the need to hike embedded generation within the city while also boosting the capacity of transmission networks, which are getting clogged considering the growing demand for power. Considering this situation, to ensure round-the-clock power supply in the Mumbai region, the need to upgrade its transmission network is mission critical.

Once operational, MUML will carry more than 2000 MW of additional power through an inter-state transmission system (ISTS) feed to the MMR as well as upgrade and overhaul the existing infrastructure. The inclusion in PRAGATI portal is a major milestone for MUML project as it will help in resolving key issues and expediting the project development to ensure critical timelines and commence operations by December 2023.

PRAGATI is designed for a culture of proactive governance through technology enabled monitoring and timely Implementation of projects and schemes. It is also a robust system for bringing transparency and accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders. In 40 editions of PRAGATI meetings so far, 319 projects having a total cost of ₹15.41 lakh crore have been reviewed.

Commenting on this key project development, Ninad Pitale, Project Director, MUML, said, “This development is a testimony of the project’s criticality. It will help us to maintain consistent progress and ensure commencement of operations on time to address the growing power demands and make it future ready in terms of energy requirement.”

MUML is an interstate transmission project envisaged and approved by the Ministry of Power, Government of India. This transmission project is executed as part of Package C of Western Region Strengthening Scheme – XIX (WRSS-XIX). The project is implemented by Mumbai Urja Marg Ltd (earlier known as Vapi II North Lakhimpur Transmission Ltd), the Special Purpose Vehicle acquired by Sterlite Power in June 2020 through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) route. The project consists of three elements, namely: Padgha-Kharghar 400 kV D/C transmission line, LILO Padgha-Navi Mumbai 400 kV D/C transmission line and LILO Apta-Kalwa/Taloja 220 kV transmission line.