The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued an advisory urging transmission utilities to adopt improved tower configurations and advanced conductor technologies for transmission lines passing through forest areas to reduce right of way (RoW) requirements. The advisory is based on the CEA (Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical Plants and Electric Lines) Amendment Regulations, 2025, which introduced revised RoW requirements for transmission line configurations using technologies such as high temperature low sag conductors and monopole towers.
The advisory also refers to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change guidelines issued on July 3, 2026. The guidelines called on stakeholders to comply with the revised RoW requirements and adopt technological innovations while planning and executing transmission projects in forest areas. Accordingly, the CEA has asked concerned stakeholders to adopt the revised norms to reduce forest land requirements and promote the use of new transmission technologies.