Gurgaon: GMDA has given in-principle approval to HVPNL to lay a 220kV transmission line on land under the authority’s jurisdiction along Dwarka Expressway.The move is expected to clear a major hurdle in the commissioning of the Sector 99 power substation and pave the way for connecting the Rs 62-crore substation to the transmission grid.The proposed line will connect the Sector 99 substation to the Daulatabad feeder and onward to Manesar, integrating it with the wider power transmission network. Once operational, the substation is expected to reduce the load on the existing electricity network serving sectors 99 to 105.The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the CEO of GMDA, P C Meena, and attended by HVPNL managing director Aditya Dahiya and senior officials of both agencies.Officials said issues related to the alignment of the transmission line have been resolved in principle. GMDA directed that the work be taken forward without affecting the authority’s existing water supply, sewerage and drainage infrastructure along the proposed route.To finalise the alignment, a joint committee headed by HVPNL superintending engineer K K Sarkar has been constituted. The panel, which also includes officials from HVPNL and GMDA’s water supply, sewerage and drainage divisions, has been asked to inspect the corridor and finalise the alignment within 10 days.Officials said the joint inspection is necessary because the proposed transmission line will pass through a utility corridor containing water pipelines, sewer lines and drains. The committee will identify the exact route to ensure these utilities remain unaffected during construction.HVPNL officials said ground and trenching surveys for the proposed alignment have already been completed. Around 19 monopoles will be installed to carry the 220kV transmission line.A senior HVPNL official said the approval would enable the remaining work to be expedited. “We are targeting completion by next year so residents of the surrounding sectors can benefit from the upgraded power infrastructure before next summer’s peak.”The official added that civil construction of the substation has largely been completed and equipment installation is underway. “Laying of the transmission line was pending because of the ROW issue, which is now being resolved. Once the remaining work is completed, testing and commissioning of the substation will be carried out,” the official said.Currently, sectors 99 to 105 receive power from the Sector 9 substation, which officials said is under increasing pressure as occupancy in the new residential sectors continues to rise. Residents have repeatedly complained of outages, tripping and voltage fluctuations, particularly during summer when electricity demand peaks because of increased air-conditioner usage. The new substation is expected to improve reliability by adding transmission capacity and distributing the load more evenly.Residential societies expected to benefit include Habitat Prime, Pareena Laxmi Apartments, Aster Court, Pareena Coban, Heritage Max, Suncity, Gurgaon Greens and BPTP Amstoria.Santosh Singh, a resident of Pareena Laxmi Apartments, said, “At present, our sectors receive power from the Sector 9 substation, which is located quite far from this area. Because of this, any technical fault, cable burst, or maintenance shutdown along the route affects the power supply here. Even this week, we faced power outages twice. As more families move into these sectors, the pressure on the existing network is increasing. A dedicated substation has long been overdue. We only hope the facility is commissioned soon.”The Sector 99 substation has been under construction since Aug 2023 and was initially scheduled for completion by March 2025. The project, however, was delayed because of restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), action over violations of pollution-control norms and, subsequently, delays in securing the right of way required for the transmission line.
