Background of the Issue and the Final Verdict

A public interest litigation, MK Ranjitsinh and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.^[1] (“GIB PIL”), was filed in 2019 before the Supreme Court of India (“Supreme Court”) over the alarming decline in the number of the Great Indian Bustards (“GIBs”) and Lesser Floricans (“LFs”) in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The collision of the birds with the overhead transmission lines of power projects located in the potential habitat of the GIBs and the LFs, was identified as one of the main reasons for such decline. The GIB PIL sought the intervention of the Supreme Court in protection of these birds. The Supreme Court, by its order in March 2024, appointed a 9 (nine)-member committee (“Expert Committee”) to recommend mitigation measures for conservation of the GIBs and the LFs. With a view to bring this long-drawn litigation to its conclusion and while striking a balance between protection of the endangered species and India’s renewable energy goals, the Supreme Court, in its judgement dated December 19, 2025, having been guided by the recommendations of the Expert Committee, has set out the following recommendations:

• Rationalization of priority areas – Exclusion of the additional area of 5977 sq. km in Rajasthan (except for some critical patches) since the area has relatively lesser movement of GIBs and is important for transmission of power. The revised priority area for Rajasthan is 14,013 sq. km and 740 sq. km for Gujarat.
• Power line corridors – With respect to the non-priority areas, the Supreme Court has directed that all future lines are required to be routed through powerline corridors and the routes are required to be optimized to ensure that that lines share a maximum common stretch to the extent possible. Within the revised priority areas, the recommendation is for providing a power corridor for the powerlines with up to 5 km width at a distance of 5 km or more to the south of the southernmost most enclosure of Desert National Park in Rajasthan, and 2 (two) power corridors of powerlines with up to 1 to 2 km width along the Akrimota-Bhachunda transmission line and another from Kothara to Sinodhii Nani substation in the west and Suthri substation in the south in Gujarat.
• Bird flight divertors – Supreme Court has directed that detailed studies are required to be completed by the Wildlife Institute of India to assess the effectiveness of the bird flight divertors, within 1 (one) year or an additional 2 (two) years, and has also directed the authorities to undertake a pilot project prior to reaching the final recommendations.
• Prohibition on new overhead powerlines – Other than overhead powerlines of a capacity up to 11 kV, the Supreme Court has prohibited development of any new wind power projects and laying of any overhead transmission lines (except through a dedicated power corridor within the revised priority areas, as discussed in point (b) above). The Supreme Court has also prohibited: (i) development of new solar parks or solar power plants which exceed 2 MW; and (ii) expansion of existing solar parks within the revised priority areas.

It is pertinent to note that the Supreme Court has accepted the Expert Committee’s recommendation that mitigation of existing and future powerlines of up to 11 kV within 100m of the settlement boundary is not required. The Supreme Court has directed that all transmission lines of up to 11 kV are to use insulated cables in a horizontal configuration or insulated cables with bunching. The Expert Committee has not recommended any restrictions on laying of powerlines in the potential areas in the State of Rajasthan.

• Undergrounding of powerlines – Recommendations of the Expert Committee for undergrounding of the 250 km of critical powerlines in Rajasthan that pose a high risk^[2] to be implemented within 2 (two) years from the date of the judgement. If it is determined that undergrounding is not feasible, then the powerlines should be re-routed outside the revised priority area through a designated powerline corridor.
• Rajasthan: The Supreme Court has directed immediate undergrounding of 80 km out of the 104 km of lines of 33 kV (as identified in the order dated April 19, 2021) in Rajasthan and the balance 33 kV lines are required to be identified by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Rajasthan Forest Department within 3 (three) months of the judgement, which will be mitigated using undergrounding or re-routing or insulated cables. The Expert Committee has recommended rerouting of 9 (nine) lines of 66 kV with horizontal alignment of conductors and in horizontal configuration as per their indicated alignments, subject to finalization of route by the relevant State transmission utility/owner of the line in consultation with the Central Electricity Authority, Rajasthan Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of India within 6 (six) months of the date of the judgement. If based on the consultation, it is determined that undergrounding is not feasible, critical sections of high-tension power lines of 66kV and above are to be re-routed to avoid any overlap through the important habitats within the revised priority areas.
• Gujarat: Certain segments of 4 (four) lines of 33 kV (total of 79.2 km) in the revised priority area are required to be immediately undergrounded or re-routed outside the revised priority area. If it is determined that undergrounding or re-routing is not feasible, the sections of the powerlines may remain as overhead lines but are required to be mitigated through conversion to insulated cables. The balance 33 kV lines, in the revised priority areas, are required to be mitigated using undergrounding or re-routing outside the revised priority areas or conversion to insulated cables. The Expert Committee has recommended 9 (nine) critical lines of 66kV (total of 64.9 km) for immediate If it is determined that undergrounding is not technically feasible, rerouting outside the revised priority area or through the proposed corridors should be considered. For lines of 220 kV and above, the Expert Committee has suggested re-routing outside the revised priority area or within the revised priority area through a powerline corridor or laying of lines in horizontal configuration.
• The Supreme Court has also held that other recommendations of the Expert Committee, in addition to the directions set out in the judgement, are required to be implemented immediately. Some of the key additional recommendations of the Expert Committee are as follows: (i) the measures recommended by the Expert Committee for in-situ and ex-situ conservation of GIBs within the priority areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat are required to be implemented; (ii) monitoring of GIBs in the revised priority areas is required to be carried out immediately; (iii) long-term studies on the impact of climate change on the GIBs is required to be conducted; and (iv) all mitigation measures including the undergrounding, re-routing, etc. are required to be conducted immediately and are required to be completed within 2 (two) years from the date of the judgement, etc.

Industry Issues and Risks – Our Analysis

While the Supreme Court has endeavoured to strike a balance between conservation of the GIBs and the LFs and India’s commitments towards clean energy transition, however, the Indian renewable energy sector is likely to face the following issues:

• Increased costs – The directions related to undergrounding or re-routing of the powerlines will mean additional costs for the project developers. Therefore, project developers will have to relook and re-assess the mitigations available to them under the change in law provisions of the power purchase agreements and the possibility of disallowance of pass through of the costs to the consumer. However, the final determination will depend on various factors such as the definition of change in law in the power purchase agreements relating to the affected projects and the pre-existing laws on protection of the GIBs and the LFs.
• Issues pertaining to acquisition of land and right of way – As the powerlines of 33kV situated within the 80 km (out of the 104 km) area in Rajasthan are required to be undergrounded immediately, project developers whose projects are already situated within such area are now either required to obtain additional permits or execute agreements for obtaining right of way for carrying out such undergrounding. In case of new projects, project developers will be required to obtain additional permits for such underground powerlines. This will impact the development and commissioning timelines.
• Impact on the internal rate of return – Especially for project developers whose projects are already situated within the 250 km area as identified by the Wildlife Institute of India and as explained at point (e) above, the additional costs involved in carrying out the mitigation measures as suggested by the Supreme Court, will mean additional costs for the developers. In the absence of watertight change in law provisions which allow these costs as a pass through to the consumer or a restoration principle (i.e., that the power producer be restored to the same economic principle if not for the change in law), these costs will impact the overall internal rate of return for the existing projects.

Endnotes:

[1] Writ Petition (C) No. 838 of 2019

[2] The Wildlife Institute of India has identified approximately 250 km of critical powerlines located within the revised priority areas in Rajasthan, that pose a high risk and are required to be undergrounded immediately.