India’s renewable energy story has a hidden contradiction. We’re building 500 GW of clean capacity by 2030, yet the transmission backbone meant to carry this power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of one executor. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/… When the #CCI investigates whether #IndiGo’s dominance in aviation harms consumers and fair competition, a parallel question emerges: does concentrated control over critical transmission infrastructure pose similar risks to India’s energy security? #PGCIL’s consistent capture of 50% ISTS projects under #TBCB isn’t just a market-share statistic – it’s a systemic vulnerability. When half the grid’s future depends on a single entity’s execution bandwidth, every delay becomes a national bottleneck. Every curtailed megawatt of renewable energy is a direct consequence of this concentration. The #IndiGo probe rests on a simple principle: excessive market dominance can distort competition, inflate costs, and reduce consumer choice. The same principle applies to transmission infrastructure – perhaps with even higher stakes, because while travellers have alternatives, the power grid doesn’t. The solution isn’t to penalize performance; it’s to prevent systemic risk. Market-share caps, diversified project awards, and #QCBS-based bidding can ensure that India’s clean energy ambitions aren't hostage to the capacity constraints of a single institution. If aviation market dominance warrants regulatory scrutiny, shouldn’t the infrastructure powering half a billion lives receive the same attention? #TransmissionBidding #Competition #IndiGoLesson @MinOfPower @CEA_India @mnreindia @CCI_India

#Curtailment was once dismissed as an operational nuisance. In 2025, it became an alarming signal. Delays of 18-30 months across key transmission schemes in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh didn’t just push timelines – they directly shaped renewable output on the ground. Rajasthan alone saw 4 GW of clean energy curtailed between March and August 2025. Curtailment jumped from 8.5% in March to a staggering 51.5% in August. The ongoing conversation around #IndiGo’s alleged abuse of market dominance – and the @CCI_India’s reported interest in examining pricing and capacity practices – shows how quickly competition concerns can move from “sectoral issue” to “systemic risk”. The same principle applies here. When one executor handles 46 of 91 under-construction ISTS–TBCB projects worth Rs. 1.27 lakh crore, delays aren’t random; they cascade. A slipping corridor in a renewable energy zone doesn’t isolate the problem; it stalls every generator depending on that route. If aviation warrants scrutiny for potential dominance affecting consumer choice, transmission deserves equal attention for dominance affecting national renewable output. We keep saying India needs more #RenewableEnergy investment. But how do investors feel when completed wind and solar plants have no evacuation access? Can a clean energy transition absorb inefficiency at this scale? A solution is to enforce soft caps on under-construction market share so execution stress is not concentrated. Alongside this, diversifying bidding participation through blended finance, #QCBS scoring, and alternate corridor planning can make transmission readiness match renewable ambition. #GridReadiness #PGCIL #IndiGoLesson #CompetitionMatters #MarketshareCaps Read more: businessworld.in/article/ind…