CEA's Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria 2026 mandates full grid-connection redundancy for critical facilities

Key facts

• The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) released the Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria, 2026 on October 15, 2026, requiring large consumers such as railways, metro rail systems, refineries, steel plants, hospitals and data centres to plan grid connections with 100 per cent redundancy.
• The manual says connections should, as far as possible, be from two different sources of supply, since two feeders sharing common upstream infrastructure would not provide meaningful redundancy.
• CEA Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad said the manual was brought out against the backdrop of rapid transformation in the power sector, including integration of variable renewable energy, longer-distance transmission, rising fault levels and right-of-way issues.
• Prasad noted that while the 765 kV transmission system has developed well, there is now a need for 1150 kV ultra high voltage AC (UHVAC) transmission, which offers higher power transfer, lower losses and helps deal with right-of-way issues.