CEA · Guidelines · 14 October 2026 · Central Electricity Authority

CEA Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria, 2026

CEA has issued an updated manual setting the criteria used to plan India's inter-state and intra-state transmission network. It adds planning rules for 1150 kV lines and standard models for storage, STATCOMs, VSC-HVDC and RE plants.

Why it matters. These criteria decide which transmission schemes get planned and bid out, and how much RE and storage the grid is built to absorb.

What changes

Adds planning criteria for 1150 kV UHVAC corridors to move large blocks of power on less land.
Requires load flow, short-circuit, stability and total transfer capability studies across demand and generation scenarios, including high-RE and seasonal cases.
Sets N-1 and N-1-1 contingency criteria and explicit planning margins for voltage and thermal loading.
Provides standard models and parameters for BESS, STATCOMs, VSC-HVDC, wind farms and solar plants.
Encourages use of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan portal to choose routes and avoid protected areas.

Who is affected

CTUIL · STUs · Transmission developers · RE developers · Storage developers

Sources

Last checked 22 October 2026. Summary for information; rely on the official gazette text.

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