Initial Environmental Examination (Draft) – Main Report...Table 45: Key Features of Tamil Nadu 66...

Initial Environmental Examination (Draft) – Main Report

Project Number: 51308-001 July 2019

India: Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor: Power Sector Investment Project

Prepared by Tamil Nadu Transmission Company (TANTRANSCO), Government of Tamil Nadu (Department of Energy) for the Asian Development Bank.

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(as of 19 July 2019)

Currency unit – Indian rupee (₹) ₹1.00 = $.01458 $1.00 = ₹68.57450

ABBREVIATIONS

ADB – Asian Development Bank ACSR – aluminium conductor steel reinforced AMSL – average mean sea-level CEA – Central Electricity Authority CPCB – Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India DPR – detailed project report EIA – environmental impact assessment EMoP – environmental monitoring plan EMP – environmental management plan EHV – extra high voltage EPC – engineering, procurement and commissioning GCC General Construction Circle of TANTRANSCO GHG – green house gases GoTN – Government of Tamil Nadu GRM – grievance redressal mechanism CKIC – Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor TNPCB – Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board TANTRANSCO – Tamil Nadu Power Transmission Corporation Limited TNEB – Tamil Nadu Electricity Board IEE – initial environmental examination IFC International Finance Corporation/World Bank LILO – line-in–line-out MFF – multi-tranche financing facility MOEFCC – Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Government of

India PCB – polychlorinated biphenyl PGCIL – Power Grid Corporation of India Limited ROW – right of way

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ha (hectare) – 10,000 square meter km (kilometer) – 1,000 meter kV – kilovolt (1,000 volts) kW – kilowatt (1,000 watts) kWh – kilowatt-hour MVA – megavolt-amperes MW – megawatt

This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 The Project 1 1.3 Scope of Work and Methodology Adopted 3 2.0 POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 5 2.1 Indian - National, Local, Other Applicable Environmental Laws, Regulations, and Standards as applicable to the project. 5 2.2 India and Multilateral Environmental Agreements 10 2.3 Technical Standards, Rules and Regulations for Indian Power Sector 11 2.4 Asian Development Bank’s Safeguards Policies 12 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 16 3.1 Type of Project 16 3.2 Category of Project 16 3.3 Need for the Project 17 3.4 Location 17 3.5 Size and Magnitude of the Operation 21 3.6 Associated Facilities 33

3.6.1 Existing Thermal and Renewable Power Plants 33 3.6.2 Proposed Thermal Power Plants 34 3.6.3 Renewable Plants that are under construction 35

4.0 DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENT 36 4.1 Physical Resources 36

4.1.1 Geographic Profile of Tamil Nadu 36 4.1.2 Climate, Rainfall and Temperatures 37 4.1.3 Topography and Soils 40 4.1.4 Water Resources (Surface and Ground Water) 43

4.2 Environmental Qualities 46 4.2.1 Baseline Air Quality 48 4.2.2 Baseline Noise Data 51 4.2.3 Baseline Surface Water Quality 51

4.3 Ecological Resources 53 4.3.1 Forest 54 4.3.2 Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, Wildlife and Bird Sanctuaries 57 4.3.3 Wetlands 62

4.4 Economic Development 66 4.4.1 Economy 66 4.4.2 Employment and Livelihood 68 4.4.3 Mining Activities 68 4.4.4 Industries 70 4.4.5 Infrastructure facilities 72 4.4.6 Land Use 75 4.4.7 Agriculture 78 4.4.8 Livestock 78 4.4.9 Fisheries 78 4.4.10 Tourism Facilities 79

4.5 Social and Cultural Resources 81 4.6 Climate Change in Tamil Nadu 82 4.7 Sites of Cultural, Archaeological and Historical Significance 85

5.0 ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 86 5.1 Impact assessment methodology 86

5.1.1 Impact Magnitude 86 5.1.2 Sensitivity of Receptor 87 5.1.3 Assigning Significance 88 5.1.4 Impact Matrix 88

5.2 Environmental Problems Associated with Project Location and Design 93 5.3 Environmental Impacts Associated with Pre-Construction Stage 97

5.3.1 Impact on Environmental Resources 97 5.3.2 Land Resourses 97

5.4 Environmental Problems Associated with Construction Stage 99 5.4.1 Impact on Environmental Resources 100 5.4.2 Impact on Physical Resources 103 5.4.3 Impact on Ecological Resources 105 5.4.4 Impact on Terrestrial Ecology 105 5.4.5 Impact on Socioeconomic Resources 125

5.5 Environmental Impacts Associated with Operations and Maintenance Stage 127 5.5.1 Transmission lines 127 5.5.2 Substations 130 5.5.3 Cumulative Impact Assessment 131

5.6 Possible Hazards 144 6.0 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 152 6.1 TANTRANSCO’s Approach for Route Selection 152

6.1.1 Methodology for Selection of Route: Environmental View 152 6.2 Alternatives for Subproject Components 153

6.2.1 Transmission Lines 153 6.2.2 GIS Substations 153 6.2.3 Reasons for the final selection 154

7.0 PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE 159 7.1 Information Disclosure 159 7.2 Consultation and Participation 159 7.3 Consultation Details 159 8.0 GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 167 8.1 The Grievance Redress Mechanism 167 8.2 Formation of GRC 167

8.2.1 GRC at GCC, Madurai 168 8.2.2 GRC at TANTRANSCO Headquarters 168

8.3 Grievance Redress Process 168 8.3.1 GRC Record Keeping 169

9.0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 171 9.1 Mitigation 171

9.1.1 Critical Environmental Review Criteria 171 9.1.2 Emergency Response, Disaster Management, Health and Safety 171 9.1.3 Training Programs 172 9.1.4 Climate Risks Adaptation Measures 174 9.1.5 Environmental Management Plan 175

9.2 Monitoring 216 9.2.1 Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMoP) 216 9.2.2 Performance indicators 223 9.2.3 Reporting 224 9.2.4 Environmental Management Plan Budget Costs 224

9.3 Institutional arrangements 225 9.3.1 Implementation Plan 225 9.3.2 Implementation Arrangements 229 9.3.3 Project Implementation Organizations: Roles and Responsibilities 230

10.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 237

List of Tables

Table 1: Proposed Capacities to be installed i Table 2: CKIC Subprojects 2 Table 3: Project Investment Plan ($ million) 3 Table 4: Project Financing Plan ($ million) 3 Table 5: Indian Regulations as Applicable for the project 5 Table 6: Acts and Rules Pertaining to Forest Protection in Tamil Nadu 8 Table 7: Indian Policies related to project 8 Table 8: Environment Safeguards Categorization: Definition 12 Table 9: List of Subprojects in CKIC power sector project in Tamil Nadu 16 Table 10: Different locations of proposed subprojects 17 Table 11: Location Details of substations, and transmission line from Grid Substations to other

substations or LILO points 20 Table 12: Details of Substation Land Area and Coordinates 21 Table 13: Equipment at S1: Virudhunagar 765 kV Substation 21 Table 14: S1-Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) 22 Table 15: Equipment at S2: Ottapidaram Substation 23 Table 16: S2- Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA) 24 Table 17: S3.1-400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation 25 Table 18: S3.2-400 kV bays at Kayathar substation 27 Table 19: S3.3- 110 kV bay at Vijayapuri substation 28 Table 20: T1.1: 765 kV double circuit Virudhunagar - Coimbatore transmission line 30 Table 21: T1.2 - 400 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar – Kayathar transmission line 30 Table 22: T1.3 - 400 kV double circuit line in and out at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to

Thappangundu details 30 Table 23: T2.1 - 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Udangudi transmission line details

31 Table 24: T2.2 - 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Kamuthi transmission line details 31 Table 25: T2.3 - 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Kavanoor line

details 31 Table 26: T2.4 - 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Savasapuram

line details 32 Table 27: T2.5 - 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Ottapidaram -

Eppothumvendran details 32 Table 28: T2.6 - 110 kV single circuit line Ottapidaram - Vijayapuri details 32 Table 29: T2.7 - 110 kV single circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for TTN Auto - T-off Sipcot

line details 33 Table 30: List of Classifications in Tamil Nadu 38 Table 31: Distribution of rainfall range in various districts 2015-16 38 Table 32: Temperature at selected stations in Tamil Nadu 2005-06 (in Celsius) 39 Table 33: Classification of Tamil Nadu Soils 41 Table 34: River Basins ground water potential 45 Table 35: Locations for Monitoring 48 Table 36: Baseline Air Quality collected in February 2019 50

Table 37: Baseline Noise Monitoring data collected in Feb 2019 51 Table 38: Baseline Surface Water Quality collected in February 2019 52 Table 39: Forest Cover within and outside Recorded Forest Area 54 Table 40: District Wise Forest Cover (area in sq.km) 55 Table 41: Wildlife Sanctuaries, Bird Sanctuaries and National Parks in Tamil Nadu 58 Table 42: Important Wetlands of Tamil Nadu 62 Table 43: Area under Coastal Ecosystems in Tamil Nadu (in Square Kilometres) 64 Table 44: Ecologically Important Sites in Tamil Nadu 64 Table 45: Key Features of Tamil Nadu 66 Table 46: Important Mineral Deposits in Tamil Nadu in 2014-15 69 Table 47: Thermal Power Plant Emissions in Tamil Nadu 71 Table 48: Ports in Tamil Nadu and Total Cargo Handled in 2011-12 and 2012-13 73 Table 49: Distance from various Airports in the area 74 Table 50: Land Use Pattern in Tamil Nadu 75 Table 51: Productivity Position of Tamil Nadu at National Level 78 Table 52: Vital Statistics – Comparison of Tamil Nadu with India 81 Table 53: Climate Change and Moisture Index – Tamil Nadu 83 Table 54: Frequency of Cyclonic Storms in Tamil Nadu 83 Table 55: Season-wise Frequency of Cyclonic Storms in Tamil Nadu 83 Table 56: Parameters for Determining Magnitude 87 Table 57: Criteria for Determining Sensitivity 88 Table 58: Significance of Impact Criteria 88 Table 59: Impact Matrix 88 Table 60: Approximate distance of subprojects from sensitive receptors 93 Table 61: Total land required for subprojects 98 Table 62: Noise Parameters 101 Table 63: Transmission Voltage (kV) Width of Right of Way (in Meters) 104 Table 64: Distance from WLS and National Parks for all Subprojects 106 Table 65: Indian Continental IBAs and distances from Subproject locations 112 Table 66: Total Number of Trees to be felled for subprojects 117 Table 67: Planned Thermal Power Plants to be connected to the system 133 Table 68: Potential Hazards Associated with the Project 145 Table 69: Final alternatives selection 156 Table 70: Locations and Participants (Public Consultations) 160 Table 71: Summary of Environmental Public Consultation 162 Table 72: Grievance Redress Process 168 Table 73: Safety Implication and Mitigation 172 Table 74: Training programme - summary of training needs 173 Table 75: Environmental Management Plan (TANTRANSCO Transmission Line Packages)

176 Table 76: Environmental Management Plan (Substation Packages) 197 Table 77: Phase-wise Monitoring 216 Table 78: Measurement of Environmental Parameters & Periodicity 219 Table 79: Performance Indicators of Environmental Management prior to Construction. 223 Table 80: Estimated Environmental Costs for Implementation 224 Table 81: Project Construction Aspects 225 Table 82: Overall Project Implementation Schedule 227 Table 83: Project Implementation Organizations – Roles and Responsibilities 230 Table 84: Institutional Roles and Responsibilities for EMP Implementation Activities 236

List of Figures Figure 1: Geographic locations of key assets to be built under the project 18 Figure 2: ADB Funded Transmission line network under the project 19 Figure 3: Locations for Virudhunagar substation 23 Figure 4: Locations for Ottapidaram substation 25 Figure 5: Location for Kamuthi substation bay 26 Figure 6: Location for Kayathar substation bay 27 Figure 7: Location for Vijayapuri substation bay 28 Figure 8: Map of Study Area and Coordinates for Termination points for each line 29 Figure 9: Tamil Nadu administrative divisions 37 Figure 10: Rainfall in Tamil Nadu 39 Figure 11: Temperatures in Tamil Nadu 40 Figure 12: Tamil Nadu Soils 41 Figure 13: Hazard Map 42 Figure 14: River Basins of Tamil Nadu 44 Figure 15: Forest Cover Map of Tamil Nadu 55 Figure 16: District-Wise Extent of Reserved and Protected Forests in Tamil Nadu in 2013-14 (in

Square Kilometres) 57 Figure 17: Protected Area map of Tamil Nadu 61 Figure 18: District-Wise Wetlands Area (in ‘000 Ha) and Percentage of Wetlands Area to District

Geographical Area in 2011 62 Figure 19: District-Wise Coastal Length of Tamil Nadu (in Kilometres) 64 Figure 20: Index of Industrial Production in Tamil Nadu and India (Base Year= 2004-05) 70 Figure 21: Power Generation and Consumption in Tamil Nadu 73 Figure 22: District-Wise Total Geographical Area in Tamil Nadu (in ‘000 Hectares) 76 Figure 23: Type of area 76 Figure 24: District-Wise Land Use Classification in 2013-14 (in Percentage of Total District Area)

77 Figure 25: Fish Production in Tamil Nadu from 2000-01 to 2013-14 (in ‘000 Tonnes and as a % of

Total All-India Production) 79 Figure 26: Eco-Tourism Destinations in Tamil Nadu 80 Figure 27: GHG Emissions from Energy Sector in Tamil Nadu 85 Figure 28: Central Asian Flyway 108 Figure 29: The migratory routes through India (not to scale) 109 Figure 30: Flight Paths via Indian Continent to Sri Lankan breeding areas 110 Figure 31: Location of Kullur Sandai Reservoir and the proposed route aligment - Broken Red and

Black line above whereas the Black dash and blue line have been avoided. Arrow shows the proposed distance (approx. 8 km) 114

Figure 32: Locations of IBAs and the sub-project levels 115 Figure 33: Distances from Line for EMF measurements 130 Figure 34: CIA Approach 132 Figure 35: Connectivity Diagram 135 Figure 36: Wind Power Projects Along Ckic Project Overlaying with Kullur IBA 143 Figure 37: Process of Grievance Redressal Mechanism 170 Figure 38: Project Organization Structure 235

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Tamil Nadu presently has more than 29,000 MW power generation capacity. It is estimated that the peak demand of the state would increase from 15,340 MW in FY2017 to 18,900 MW by FY2020, onwards to 27,800 MW by FY2025, reflecting a modest annual growth rate of 7.7%. As the demand grows, the transmission network may not have requisite redundancy (i.e. spare capacity) to maintain the required reliability levels. Tamil Nadu has also been assigned a cumulative capacity target of 21,500 MW of renewable energy by the Government of India (GoI) to be operational by 2022. New power generation zones are at significant distances away from the load centres of Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai. Therefore, long and high capacity transmission lines are required to be built in a timely manner to deliver generated power to load centres. Scattered nature of wind and solar power generation would require several “pooling” substations to collect power deliveries and transfer to the 400 kV and 765 kV network for delivery to cities in the northern sector of the state. 2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will support power transmission to improve the reliability of power supply through the proposed Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) Power Sector Investment Project (The project), with an estimate cost $645.7 million, among which a regular loan of $451 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources. This will contribute to economic development in Tamil Nadu through supporting a sustainable electricity sector in the state. The project proposes to finance the construction of the following transmission assets in the state of Tamil Nadu. The assets comprise of two new substations, five new transmission lines of voltage ranging from 110 kV to 765 kV, six line in and line out (LILO) sections, and addition of five bays at three substations. Table 1 gives the information on the capacities proposed to be installed through the project.

Table 1: Proposed Capacities to be installed

1. Substation

a. Transformer capacity installed 4,400 MVA

2. Transmission lines

a 765 kV double circuit lines 242 km b 400 kV double circuit lines including line-in line-out sections 216 km c 230 kV line-in line-out sections 16 km d 110 kV double circuit lines 14 km e 110 kV single circuit lines 34 km

3. As per Government of India Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Act 2009, Power transmission projects are not listed as environmental sensitive projects and hence no clearance is required from Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) or Ministry of Environment and Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. Clearance from Tamil Nadu Forest Department is required only in cases where subproject is constructed on forestland or requires cutting of forest trees. However, National Environmental Policy 2006 of Government of India, ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) and their procedures and guidelines thereto apply to all components/subprojects funded by ADB. 4. An Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) has been prepared for this project. This IEE report comprises baseline data on existing conditions of physical, ecological, economic, and social aspects, together with the anticipated environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures. The field studies by Anna University were supported by satellite imagery data, Forest, coastal and other departments for arriving at final route alignments. Field surveys were also undertaken to assess the physical and biological environment of the area. Detailed assessment of the baseline environment has been conducted for all the routes for the proposed alignments and data collection from primary and secondary sources has been done to support the findings of the field survey. Observations were made along the proposed

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transmission line tower locations, as well as in and around the proposed premises for new substations. The alignment of transmission line may slightly vary after the exact demarcation of tower locations. 5. The Ottapidaram substation (60.61 Acres) is located on private and government land. This land has been purchased at Tamil Nadu government rates and acquisition of land will not be required from the surrounding communities The Virudhunagar substation (230 Acres) is located on private land which will be acquired as per Tamil Nadu government rates. The five other bays proposed for the project are located in existing substation lands. No environmentally/ecologically sensitive areas are involved in this project. However, some trees will be required to be felled that fall under the right-of-way (RoW). For these substation lands, Table 66 gives the approximate number of trees to be felled/trimmed1. The larger extent of proposed transmission lines will run mostly through barren and agricultural - cultivated and uncultivated lands. These line routes have been selected with least impacts on forests trees, orchards, cultivable land and habitation. Wherever possible, the alignments have been proposed routes or towers with extra heights to reduce the impacts on land underneath while maintaining the mandatory clearance as per Indian Electricity Act (Rules 77 and 80). The proposed alignments pose no disturbance to any reserve forests or any sanctuary and national parks in the state. 6. The proposed project will have a number of positive impacts and negative impacts on the existing environment as follows:

Positive Impacts:

The proposed project will improve operational efficiency and quality of power, reliability of the system and at the same time will reduce losses due to interconnection with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) network and hence virtual up-gradation to higher voltage level and better voltage profile. Evacuation of power to both the local areas and regions outside the state will boost overall economic development of the state due to extra revenues generated by power sold outside the state because of availability of additional power evacuation infrastructure.

Negative Impacts:

Removal of trees for the transmission line is the main negative impact on the proposed project area, however as per proposed route alignment, there is no forest land traversed by the lines and therefore no forest trees are required to be cut.

Environmental pollution due to cut and fill operations, transportation of construction materials, disposal of debris, disturbance to the farming activities, nuisance from dust, noise, vehicle fumes, black smoke, and vibration due to construction activities are short term negative impacts from the project.

The loss of agricultural productivity due to reduction of land for agricultural and horticultural purposes will be minimal. Any loss of crop, fruit/non-fruit tree to be felled will be compensated based on established rates by concerned Forest/Horticulture departments of Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) as per the Compensation Plan/Resettlement Plan.

Occupational and community H&S risks associated with installation (workers) and presence of electricity infrastructure in community (electrocution, EMF etc.)

7. Various mitigation measures to be taken prior to the project activities are listed in the project's IEE/EMP. Potential adverse environment impacts associated with transmission lines have been avoided or minimised through careful route selection. The alignment is sited away from major settlements, whenever possible, to account for future urban expansion. There are no national parks, sanctuaries, geologically unstable areas, which can pose foundation and route related problems. Route alignment passes through barren and agricultural lands and there are no reserve forests areas and thick vegetation

1 No of trees to be affected will be counted during the detailed survey conducted by EPC contractor after award of contracts.

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areas. The alignments in the project will also avoid forest areas as well as geologically unstable areas, which can also pose foundation related problems. Land acquisition is required for placing transmission towers on private land as per standard practice. The land shall be paid/purchased at government rates or even acquired as per GoTN rules. Wherever the land is not acquired, any physical damage to the crops during the construction phase of the project will be compensated at the time of damage as per GoTN rules, as the impacts on agricultural/horticultural lands will be restricted to the construction phase and will be temporary in nature. 8. There are no associated facilities for the project as project will only provide system strengthening for power transmission system in the CKIC corridor. TANTRANSCO is not constructing any dedicated line for any particular power plants but rather a host of generation projects in various project areas. TANTRANSCO as a State Transmission Utility (STU) is responsible to design networks with a principle to provide the power evacuation to an intrastate point. On the other hand, the power plants in Tamil Nadu should have a backup line to evacuate the power, hence, TANTRANSCO system will only be treated as one supplementary line proving redundancy. However, TANTRANSCO has a standard application procedure prescribed by Tamil Nadu Energy Regulatory Commission (TNERC) making it mandatory for all linked power plants to provide information to ensure that their facilities comply with Government of India and GoTN rules for environmental and social clearances before they connect to the TANTRANSCO transmission system. 9. The project will also support five bays in three substations which are recognized as the existing facilities as per ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement. The compliance audit including on-site assessment was conducted with the findings presented in Annexure 5. 10. Public consultations were conducted with the project affected communities, stakeholders, and government officers focused on existing environmental conditions around the proposed transmission lines/substations where potential construction related impacts could occur due to project implementation. 11. Since the project does not involve activities that have significant adverse impacts, the present IEE has been prepared to determine the impact of power transmission aspects as per ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement, and consistent with ADB’s Operations Manual F1/BP and F1/OP (2013). Accordingly, the environmental classification for the project is expected to be ‘Environment Category B’. 12. Benefits far outweigh negative impacts. Overall, the major social and environmental impacts associated with transmission projects are limited to the construction period and can be mitigated to an acceptable level by implementation of recommended measures and by best engineering and environmental practices.

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1. Tamil Nadu was a power deficient state until FY20152 but in FY2017 served the peak demand of 15,340 megawatts (MW3) with no load shedding. The state has since become power surplus. It is estimated that the peak demand of the state would increase from 15,340 MW in FY2017 to 18,900 MW by FY2020, onwards to 27,800 MW by FY2025, reflecting a modest annual growth rate of 7.7%. The total available generating capacity for Tamil Nadu4 was 29,212 MW as of 31 May 2018. As the demand grows, the transmission network may not have requisite redundancy (i.e. spare capacity) to maintain the required reliability levels. Tamil Nadu has also been assigned a cumulative capacity target of 21,500 MW of renewable energy by the Government of India to be operational by 2022. New power generation zones are at significant distances away from the load centres of Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai. Therefore, long and high capacity transmission lines are required to be built in a timely manner to deliver generated power to load centres.

2. The Government of India has recently declared economic corridors to boost the country’s manufacturing sector, and the second phase of the East Coast Economic Corridor is the CKIC in Tamil Nadu. It is estimated that the peak demand in FY2025 would be 27.8 GW with the CKIC implementation whereas it would be only 22.8 GW (7% demand growth) in the business-as-usual scenario. Most of the energy power plants are at significant distances away from the load centres of Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, which would require considerable investments in transmission infrastructure to transfer power to the planned CKIC with improved quality and reliability. Scattered nature of wind and solar power generation would require several “pooling” substations to collect power deliveries and transfer to the 400 kV and 765 kV network for delivery to cities in the northern sector of the state. Therefore, long and high capacity transmission lines are required to be built in a timely manner to deliver generated power to load centres. 1.2 The Project 3. The proposed Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) Power Sector Investment Project consists of (i) establishment of 765 kV transmission link from the southern section of CKIC (Madurai) to load centers in North (Chennai) and North Western (i.e. Coimbatore) regions of Tamil Nadu (ii) establishment of 400 kV pooling substation in southern region of CKIC (i.e. Thoothukudi) for collecting power generated from proposed upcoming power plants; and (iii) Institutional capacity building of TANTRANSCO for improved financial management and enhanced gender sensitive workplace. 4. The project is aligned with the following impact(s): Industrial development and renewable energy generation in Tamil Nadu will be enhanced. The power supply to industrial demand centers in CKIC will be improved. The project will have following outputs. 5. Output 1: A transmission link from the energy hub in southern CKIC to load centers in northern CKIC established. This will establish a 765 kV power transmission link between the energy generation hub in Madurai–Thoothukudi area and load centers in the western and northern parts of the state. The outputs consist of (a) Virudhunagar (765/400/230 kV, 2x1,500 megavolt ampere [MVA] and 2x500 MVA) substation; (b) 242 kilometers (km) of 765 kV transmission lines from Virudhunagar to Coimbatore; and (c) 77 km of 400 kV transmission lines to link Virudhunagar substation to several 400/230 kV pooling substations for wind and solar power plants;

2 FY2015 means the fiscal year 2014–2015, ending on 31 March 2015. 3 Peak demand in FY2017 occurred in June 2016. 4 Including capacity allocations and long term open access power purchases from outside the state.

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6. Output 2: A pooling substation for renewable energy established in southern CKIC. This will establish a pooling substation to receive electricity generated from power plants in the Thoothukudi district. This consists of (a) Ottapidaram (400/230/110 kV, 2x315 MVA and 2x200 MVA) substation; (b) 139 km of 400 kV transmission lines to connect Ottapidaram substation with several power plants; and (c) 64 km of 230 kV and 110 kV transmission lines to connect Ottapidaram substation with nearby load centers. 7. Output 3: Enhanced capacity for improved financial management and gender sensitive workplace. This will be delivered through the attached technical assistance grant. This will consist of (a) strengthening the financial management capacity of the Executing Agency, particularly in reconciling intercompany balances and establishing and maintaining a comprehensive fixed asset register; (ii) supporting the Executing Agency in adopting and implementing Indian Accounting Standards; and (iii) facilitating the introduction of gender sensitive workplace practices and (iv) enhancing the capacity of TANTRANSCO for monitoring the environment and social impacts of transmission projects. 8. Table 2 lists all CKIC power sector subprojects in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Table 2: CKIC Subprojects

No. Sub-Projects Details

S Substation Operating voltages (kV)

S1 Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) 765/400 S2 Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA) 400/230/110

T1. Transmission lines associated with Virudhunagar substation Route Length (km)

1.1 765 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Coimbatore 242 1.2 400 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Kayathar 72 1.3 400 kV double circuit line in and out at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to

Thappagundu (proposed) line 5

T2. Transmission lines associated with Ottapidaram substation Approx. Route Length (km)

2.1 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Udangudi 68 2.2 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Kamuthi 71 2.3 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot -

Kavanoor line 10

2.4 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Savasapuram line

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2.5 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Ottapidaram - Eppothumvendran

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2.6 110 kV single circuit line Ottapidaram - Vijayapuri 34 2.7 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for TTN Auto -

T-off Sipcot line 10

S3 New bays at associated substations Quantity

3.1 400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation 2 3.2 400 kV bays at Kayathar substation 2 3.3 110 kV bay provisions at Vijayapuri substation 1

Cost Estimates Preparation and Revisions 9. Base cost estimates were prepared by TANTRANSCO based on its assessment of unit quantities and recent tender prices received for similar works. Price contingencies and financial charges during implementation were estimated by ADB. The project cost is estimated at $645.7 million, including physical and price contingencies, financing charges during implementation, taxes and duties. The project investment plan is summarized in Table 3.

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Table 3: Project Investment Plan ($ million) ($ million)

Item Amount

A. Base Cost a 1. Transmission link from southern CKIC to northern CKIC (output 1) 401.8 2. Pooling substation for renewable energy in southern CKIC (output 2) 105.7 3. Capacity building (output 3) 0.4 3. Environmental and social mitigation costs 51.1 Subtotal (A) 558.9 B. Contingencies b 54.6 C. Financing Charges During Implementation c 32.1 Total (A+B+C) 645.7

CKIC = Chennai-Kanyakumari industrial corridor. a In Jan 2019 prices. Includes GST of $68.8 million b. Physical contingency computed at 5% of base costs (excluding environmental and social mitigation costs and capacity

building). Price contingency computed using ADB's forecasts of international and domestic inflation and includes provision for potential exchange rate fluctuation under the assumption of a purchasing power parity exchange rate.

c. Interest during construction has been computed at 3.15% of disbursed loan amount. Commitment charge has been computed at 0.15% of undisbursed loan amounts.

Sources: TANTRANSCO and Asian Development Bank estimates

10. The government has requested (i) a regular loan of $451.0 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and (ii) technical assistance grant of $ 0.5 million to help finance the project. The Counterpart funds to be provided by the Government of Tamil Nadu will be utilized for payment of compensation for right of way for transmission lines and Goods and Service Tax (GST) on turnkey contracts. TANTRANSCO has financed the land acquisition cost for substations and will finance part of the contingencies, commitment charges and project management expense. The Associated Technical Assistance Grant funded by Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) - Others administered by ADB will finance the capacity building of TANTRANSCO. The financing plan is in Table 4.

Table 4: Project Financing Plan ($ million)

Source Amount ($ million)

Share of Total (%)

Asian Development Bank OCR loan 451.0 69.8 Attached Technical Assistance (TASF-others) 0.5 0.1 TANTRANSCO/Government of Tamil Nadu 194.2 30.1 Total 645.7 100.0

OCR = ordinary capital resources. Sources: TANTRANSCO and Asian Development Bank estimates.

1.3 Scope of Work and Methodology Adopted 11. This IEE has been prepared for the project. This IEE requires identification of potential environmental issues associated with the project and appropriate mitigation measures to be put in place to minimize the environmental impacts. The broad scope of the IEE is:

i) To conduct field visits to collect data relevant to the study area and also collect secondary data

so as to establish the baseline environmental status of the study area; ii) To assess the impacts on environmental attributes due to the location, design, construction and

operation of the proposed Project; iii) To prepare an Environment Management Plan (EMP) outlining the measures for mitigating the

adverse environmental impacts, as well as institutional arrangements; iv) To identify critical environmental parameters required to be monitored subsequent to the

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implementation of the proposed project; v) To carry out consultation with local people to identify public perception regarding the project; and vi) To establish an Environment Monitoring Plan (EMoP) for TANTRANSCO to prepare

environmental monitoring reports for ADB’s review at regular intervals. 12. This IEE comprises baseline data of existing conditions on physical, ecological, economic and social aspects, together with the anticipated environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures. The field studies by Anna University were supported by satellite imagery data, Forest, coastal and other departments for arriving at final route alignments. Field surveys were also undertaken to assess the physical and biological environment of the area. Detailed assessment of the baseline environment has been conducted for the all routes for the proposed alignments and data collection from primary and secondary sources has been done to support the findings of the field survey. Observations were made along the proposed transmission line tower locations, as well as in and around the proposed premises for new substations. The alignment of transmission line may slightly vary after the exact demarcation of tower locations. 13. Public consultations with the project affected communities, stakeholders, and government officers focused on existing environmental conditions around the proposed transmission lines/substations has been conducted and the potential impacts that could happen due to project implementation were explained to the participants. 14. Since the project does not involve activities that have significant adverse impacts, the present IEE has been developed as per ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009). The IEE conforms to national environmental regulations and is also consistent with ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement. Accordingly, the environmental classification for the project is expected to be “Category B” as per ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement.

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2.0 POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 2.1 Indian - National, Local, Other Applicable Environmental Laws, Regulations, and

Standards as applicable to the project. 2.1.1 Tamil Nadu Specific Environmental Regulatory and Policy Framework 15. As per Government of India’s Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2009, Power transmission projects are not listed as environmental sensitive projects and hence no clearance is required from Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) or Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. Clearance from Tamil Nadu Forest Department is required only in cases where subproject is constructed on forestland or requires cutting of forest trees. Moreover, National Environmental Policy 2006 of Government of India and Safeguard Policy Statement of ADB and procedures and guidelines as listed in Annexure 1 thereto apply to all components/subprojects funded by ADB. 16. MoEFCC, Government of India, vide its Notification Nos. S.O. 1533 dated September 14, 2006, reengineered the EIA process in India, also decentralized some powers, and made provision to constitute the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) for performing functions under the said Notification. For the Tamil Nadu State, the SEIAA and SEAC were constituted vide the MoEFCC, Government of India, Notification on 12th August 2015 vide No. S.O. 2199 (E). In addition, TNPCB’s guidelines for project proponents apply to all Tamil Nadu state projects. Indian Environmental Regulatory and Policy Framework Selection A1.1 National Government Environment Classification 17. The transmission project is exempted from clearance under the Government of India’s EIA Notification 2009. As per the notification, the environmental classification of projects is determined by MoEFCC), Government of India and there are two possible outcomes:

Category A: A project is classified as Category A if it is likely to have significant negative impacts and is thus one of the types of project listed in this category in the EIA Notification. Such projects require EIA, plus Environmental Clearance (EC) from MoEFCC;

Category B: A project is classified as Category B if it is likely to have fewer negative impacts and is listed in this category in the EIA Notification. These projects require EC from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), who classify the project as B1 (requiring EIA) or B2 (not requiring EIA), depending on the level of potential impacts. Projects classified as B2 require no further study.

2.1.2 Indian Policy, Legal, and Administrative Framework 18. The major Indian acts, rules and policies which are relevant to the project activities are: The Electricity Act (1910) & its Amendments (2004) & (2007) and the Electricity Rule (1956) & its Amendments (2000); The Indian Telegraphic Act (1885) & its Amendments (2003); The Environment Protection Act (1986); The Forest Act (1980); The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013); and The National Environment Policy (2006). Table 5 gives

an illustrative list of acts and their applicability to the project.

Table 5: Indian Regulations as Applicable for the project

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No Name of Regulation Applicability Relevancy to Project

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS 1 National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act, 2010 Yes If any project components fall

under gambit of NGT. 2 The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and

Environment (Protection) Rules 1986 & its amendments

Yes Umbrella Act to the Air, Water and Noise Acts and relevant during construction and operations

3 The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998

No

4 Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, MoEFCC, (Department of Environment, Forests and Wildlife), 6th January, 2011

No

5 The Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary Movements) rules, 2009

Yes Use of Transformer oil

6 Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 and further amendments

Yes Use of Batteries

7 Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation) Rules, 2000 as amended in 2005

Yes Use of Sulfer Hexafloride (SF6), a GHG polluting agent.

8 Forests (Conservation) Act, 1980 and Rules 1981 No 9 The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 No 10 The Biodiversity Act, 2002 No 11 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,

1981 Including Rules 1982 and 1983 Yes Applicable during

construction and operations 12 Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules,

2000 and the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) (Amendment) Rules, 2010

Yes Applicable during construction and operations

13 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution), Act, 1974 including Rules, 1975 (as amended up to 1988)

Yes Applicable during construction

14 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution), Cess Act, 1977 including Rules 1978 and 1991

Yes Applicable during construction and operations

15 The Indian Forest Act 1927 No 16 The National Environmental Appellate Authority

Act, 1997 No

17 National Wetland rules GSR 252 E No

REGULATIONS RELATED TO LAND AND LABOUR

1 Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996 Yes Key legislations providing guidelines for onsite labour and worker management and welfare during construction

2 Interstate Migrant Workers Act 1979 Yes In case workers and labourers working at the project sites are migrants from other states during construction

4 The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 Yes Right of Way required for lines

5 Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878 (as modified upto September 1949)

Yes Change find during construction.

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No Name of Regulation Applicability Relevancy to Project 6 The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 Yes Change find during

construction. 7 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,

1986 Yes During construction

8 The Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act 1976 Yes During construction 9 The Trade Union Act, 1926 No 10 Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Yes During construction 11 Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 Yes ESI Act or Workmen

Compensation Act during construction and operations

12 The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 and Rules

Yes During construction and operations

13 The E.P.F. and Miscellaneous Provisions act, 1952 Yes During construction and operations

14 Factories Act 1948 Maybe In-case implementing agency more than ten full time employees during the operations phase of the project

15 Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 (ESI) Yes ESI Act or Workmen Compensation Act applicable to the implementing agency

16 Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 Yes during construction and operations

17 Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Area) Act, 1996


18 The Right to Information Act, 2005 Yes During all stages 19 Employers’ Liability Act no. 24 of 1938 Yes During construction and

operations

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

1 The Indian Factories Act, 1948 and State Rules No 2 The Shops and Establishment Act and State Rules No 3 The Petroleum Act, 1934 and the Petroleum Rules No 4 Gas Cylinder Rules and Static and Mobile Pressure

Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 1981 No

5 National Policy on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.


6 National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Work Place, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India


7 Central Electricity Authority (Safety Requirements for Operation, Construction and Maintenance of Electric Plants and Electrical Lines) Regulations 2008

Yes Detailed design, maintenance procedures. Details in 2.1.4. During construction and operations

8 CGWA Notification no.21-4/Guidelines/CGWA/2009-832 dated 14th October 2009


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No Name of Regulation Applicability Relevancy to Project 9 Indian Electricity Act, 2003 Yes During construction and

operations

2.1.3 Relevant Environment related Acts of Government of Tamil Nadu and TANTRANSCO A. State Government/TANTRANSCO Policies 19. Some of the Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) and TANTRANSCO’s policies that are applicable to the sub-projects are below: Acts and Rules pertaining to forests and wildlife in Tamil Nadu 20. Table 6 summarizes different Acts and Rules pertaining to forests and wildlife in Tamil Nadu.

Table 6: Acts and Rules Pertaining to Forest Protection in Tamil Nadu

Act/Rule Intended Objective Applicability

Madras Wild Elephants Preservation Act, 1873

Enacted to prevent indiscriminate destruction of wild elephants

No elephants in the area

Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 Enacted by the Madras Presidency for protection of forests and wildlife

No forests in the area

Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949 and Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955

Enacted to regulate felling of trees in private forests and hill areas

No private forests in the area

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 Enacted to protect wild fauna and flora

No wildlife in the substation area

Forest Conservation Act, 1980 Enacted to regulate diversion of forest land to non-forest purposes

Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Enacted to recognize community rights of tribes in forest lands

None

Tamil Nadu Sandalwood Transit Rules, 1967 Tamil Nadu Timber Transit Rules, 1968 Tamil Nadu Timber (Movement Control) Order, 1982 Tamil Nadu Wildlife (Transit) Rules, 1991

Rules to regulate forest products and wildlife

None None None None

21. Apart from the above-mentioned regulations, Government of India has also structured a number of policies that are relevant to TANTRANSCO’s initiatives. The key policies are provided in Table 7.

Table 7: Indian Policies related to project

No. Name of Regulation Applicability Relevancy to Project

ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & LAND RELATED POLICIES

1 National Forest Policy, 1988 No 2 National Environmental Policy 2006 Yes During construction

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and operations 3 Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002 No

2.1.4 Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) applicable to TN transmission projects 22. The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification under section 3(1) and section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and rule 5(3)(d) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 declaring Coastal Stretches as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and Regulating Activities in the CRZ. The principal notification was published in the Gazette of India vide number S.O. 114(E), dated, the 19th February 1991 and subsequently amended. However, this project will not include any CRZ. 23. Under the regulation, the Government of India declared the coastal stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, creeks, rivers and backwaters which are influenced by tidal action (in the landward side) upto 500 metres from the High Tide Line (HTL) and the land between the Low Tide Line (LTL) and the HTL as Coastal Regulation Zone; and imposes with effect from the date of this Notification, the following restrictions on the setting up and expansion of industries, operations or processes, etc., in the said CRZ. Classification of Coastal Regulation Zone: 24. 6(1) For regulating development activities, the coastal stretches within 500 metres of HTL on the landward side are classified into four categories, namely:

a. Category I (CRZ-I) (i) Areas that are ecologically sensitive and important, such as national parks/marine parks, sanctuaries, reserve forests, wildlife habitats, mangroves, corals/coral reefs, areas close to breeding and spawning grounds of fish and other marine life, areas of outstanding natural beauty/historically/heritage areas, areas rich in genetic diversity, areas likely to be inundated due to rise in sea level consequent upon global warming and such other areas as may be declared by the Central Government or the concerned authorities at the State/Union Territory level from time to time.

(ii) Area between the Low Tide Line and the High Tide Line.

No new construction shall be permitted within 500 metres of the HTL. No construction activity, except as listed under 2(xii), will be permitted between the Low Tide Line (LTL) and the HTL.

b. Category-II (CRZ-II) The areas that have already been developed upto or close to the shore-line. For this purpose, "developed area" is referred to as that area within the municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which is already substantially built up and which has been provided with drainage and approach roads and other infrastructural facilities, such as water supply and sewerage mains.

(i) Buildings shall be permitted neither on the seaward side of the existing road (or roads proposed in the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan of the area) nor on seaward side of existing authorized structures. Buildings permitted on the landward side of the existing and proposed road/existing authorized structures shall be subject to the existing local Town and Country Planning Regulations including the existing norms of floor space index (FSI)/floor area ratio (FAR). (ii) Reconstruction of the authorised buildings to be permitted subject to the existing FSI/FAR norms and without change in the existing use. (iii) The design and construction of buildings shall be consistent with the surrounding landscape and local architectural style.

c. Category-III (CRZ-III) Areas that are relatively undisturbed and those which do not belong to either Category-I or II. These will include coastal zone in the rural areas (developed and undeveloped) and also areas within

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Municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which are not substantially built up. (i) The area upto 200 metres from the HTL is to be earmarked as 'No Development Zone'. No construction shall be permitted within this zone except for repairs of existing authorised structures not exceeding existing FSI, existing plinth area and existing density. However, the following uses may be permissible in this zone-agriculture, horticulture, garden pastures, parks, play fields, forestry and salt manufacture from sea water. (ii) Development of vacant plots between 200 and 500 metres of HT Line in designated areas of CRZ-III with prior approval of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEFCC) permitted for construction of hotels/beach resorts for temporary occupation of tourists/visitors subject to the conditions as stipulated in the guidelines at Annexure-II of the Gazette notification. (iii) Construction/reconstruction of dwelling units between 200 and 500 metres of the HTL permitted so long it is within the ambit of traditional rights and customary uses such as existing fishing villages and gaothans. Building permission for such construction/reconstruction will be subject to the conditions that the total number of dwelling unit shall not be more than twice the number of existing units, total covered area on all floors shall not exceed 33 percent of the plot size; the overall height of construction shall not exceed 9 metres and construction shall not be more than 2 floors (ground floor plus one floor). (iv) Reconstruction/alterations of an existing authorised building permitted subject to (i) to (iii) above.

d. Category-IV (CRZ-IV) Coastal stretches in the Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and small islands, except those designated as CRZ-I, CRZ-II or CRZ-III.

25. In the MoEFCC Notification IV dated 12th April, 2001 Under heading CRZ-I, the following shall be substituted, namely:- "No new construction shall be permitted in CRZ- I except (a) Projects relating to Department of Atomic Energy and (b) Pipelines, conveying systems including transmission lines and (c) facilities that are essential for activities permissible under CRZ-I. Between the LTL and the HTL, activities as specified under paragraph 2 (xii) may be permitted. In addition, between LTL and HTL in areas which are not ecologically sensitive and important, the following may be permitted: (a) Exploration and extraction of Natural Gas, (b) activities as specified under proviso of sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph 2, and (c) Construction of dispensaries, schools, public rain shelters, community toilets, bridges, roads, jetties, water supply, drainage, sewerage which are required for traditional inhabitants of the Sunderbans Bio-sphere reserve area, West Bengal, on a case to case basis, by the West Bengal State Coastal Zone Management Authority". 2.2 India and Multilateral Environmental Agreements5 26. India is member of almost all major Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), under four clusters, namely the following:

A. Nature conservation; B. Hazardous material; C. Atmospheric emissions; and D. Marine environment.

27. There are 20 major global MEAs, to which India is a signatory. These are listed below:

A. Nature conservation

Sno. Nature Conservation Relevancy to Project

1 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands IBA exists in the project area

5 Source: http://www.moef.nic.in.

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2 CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora)

Yes, Project lies on Central Asian Flyway

3 TRAFFIC (The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network) No 4 CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory

Species) Yes, Project lies on Central Asian Flyway

5 CAWT (Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking) No 6 CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) No 7 ITTC (International Tropical Timber Organisation) No 8 UNFF (United Nations Forum on Forests) No 9 IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and

Natural Resources) No

10 GTF (Global Tiger Forum) No

B. Hazardous material

Sno. Hazardous material Relevancy to Project

1 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety No 2 SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals

Management) No

3 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

No

4 Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal

Yes, Use of Transformer oil

5 Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade

No

C. Atmospheric emissions

Sno. Atmospheric emissions Relevancy to Project

1 UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)

No

2 Kyoto Protocol No 3 UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification) No

4 Montreal Protocol (on Ozone Depleting Substances) Yes, Use of SF6

D. Marine environment

Sno. Marine environment Relevancy to Project

1 IWC (International Whaling Commission) No

2.3 Technical Standards, Rules and Regulations for Indian Power Sector 28. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is the technical agency making regulations consistent with the Electricity Act, 2003 under section 177 and carry out the provisions of the Act. The following relevant regulations are notified and published in official gazette of Government of India and available in the CEA website:

a. CEA (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations, 2006 – Notified on 17.3.2006 b. CEA (Grid Standards for Operation & Maintenance of Transmission lines) Regulations,

2010- notified on 26.06.2010. c. CEA (amendment to the regulations on “Installation & Operation of meters”) regulations,

2010- notified on 26.06.2010.

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d. CEA (Measures relating to safety & Electric Supply) Regulations, 2010- notified on 24-09-2010.

e. CEA (Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines) regulations, 2010-notifed on 20-08-2010

f. CEA (Safety Requirements for Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Electrical Plant and Electrical Lines) Regulations, 2011-notifed on 14-02.2011.

g. CEA (Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical Plants and Electric Lines) – Regulations 2010.

h. CEA (Technical Standards for connectivity to the Grid) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010.

2.4 Asian Development Bank’s Safeguards Policies 2.4.1 Asian Development Bank’s Environment Classification 29. The ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement is applicable to all projects. These projects can be categorized as A, B, C or FI. Table 8 below provides a list of Environment categorisations as per ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement requirements:

Table 8: Environment Safeguards Categorization: Definition

Category Environment

A — Significant Investments that anticipate significant adverse environmental impacts that are irreversible, diverse, or unprecedented. These impacts may affect an area larger than the sites or facilities subject to physical works.

B — Less Significant

Investments with potential adverse impacts that are site-specific, few if any of them are irreversible, and in most cases mitigation measures can be more readily designed than for Category A investments.

C — Minimal or No Impacts

Investments that have minimal or no adverse environmental impacts.

FI — Financial Intermediation

Investment of ADB funds through financial intermediaries (FI)

2.4.2 ADB Prohibited Investment Activities List (PIAL) 30. At an initial stage of identifying project activities, ADB's Prohibited Investment Activities List (described below) will apply. If the investment involves a prohibited activity, the implementing agency will not consider the investment. 31. The following types of projects do not qualify for ADB financing:

(i) production or activities involving harmful or exploitative forms of forced labour6 or child labour;7

(ii) production of or trade in any product or activity deemed illegal under host country laws or regulations or international conventions and agreements or subject to international phase

6 Forced labor means all work or services not voluntarily performed, that is, extracted from individuals under threat of force or

penalty 7 Child labor means the employment of children whose age is below the host country's statutory minimum age of employment

or employment of children in contravention of International Labor Organization Convention No. 138 "Minimum Age Convention" (www.ilo.org).

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outs or bans, such as (a) pharmaceuticals, 8 pesticides, and herbicides, 9 (b) ozone-depleting substances, 10 (c) polychlorinated biphenyls 11 and other hazardous chemicals,12(d) wildlife or wildlife products regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,13 and (e) trans-boundary trade in waste or waste products;14

(iii) production of or trade in weapons and munitions, including paramilitary materials; (iv) production of or trade in alcoholic beverages, excluding beer and wine;15 (v) production of or trade in tobacco; (vi) gambling, casinos, and equivalent enterprises; (vii) production of or trade in radioactive materials, 16 including nuclear reactors and

components thereof; (viii) production of, trade in, or use of unbonded asbestos fibers;17 (ix) commercial logging operations or the purchase of logging equipment for use in primary

tropical moist forests or old-growth forests; and (x) marine and coastal fishing practices, such as large-scale pelagic drift net fishing and fine

mesh net fishing, harmful to vulnerable and protected species in large numbers and damaging to marine biodiversity and habitats.

2.4.3 ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement Requirements (SR1): Environment Policy 32. ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement sets out the policy objectives, scope and triggers, and principles for the environmental safeguards. To achieve the policy objectives and deliver the policy principles, ADB carries out the actions described in the “Policy Delivery Process” (subsection “B” of Section Five of the Safeguard Policy Statement. To help borrowers/clients and their projects achieve the desired outcomes, ADB adopts a set of specific safeguard requirements that borrowers/clients are required to meet in addressing environmental and social impacts and risks. ADB staff, through their due diligence, review, and supervision, will ensure that borrowers/clients comply with these requirements during project preparation and implementation. These safeguard requirements are as follows: 33. The objective of ADB’s due diligence for the project loan is that the executing agency ensures the environmental soundness and sustainability of projects and to support the integration of environmental considerations into the project decision-making process. 34. Environmental safeguards are triggered if a project is likely to have potential environmental risks and impacts. 35. Policy principles:

8 A list of pharmaceutical products subject to phaseouts or bans is available at http://www.who.int. 9 A list of pesticides and herbicides subject to phaseouts or bans is available at http://www.pic.int. 10 A list of the chemical compounds that react with and deplete stratospheric ozone resulting in the widely publicized ozone holes

is listed in the Montreal Protocol, together with target reduction and phaseout dates. Information is available at http://www.unep.org/ozone/montreal.shtml.

11 A group of highly toxic chemicals, polychlorinated biphenyls are likely to be found in oil-filled electrical transformers, capacitors, and switchgear dating from 1950 to 1985.

12 A list of hazardous chemicals is available at http://www.pic.int. 13 A list is available at http://www.cites.org. 14 As defined by the Basel Convention; see http://www.basel.int. 15 This does not apply to investee companies who are not substantially involved in these activities. Not substantially involved

means that the activity concerned is ancillary to an investee company's primary operations. 16 This does not apply to the purchase of medical equipment, quality control (measurement) equipment, and any equipment for

which ADB considers the radioactive source to be trivial and properly shielded. 17 This does not apply to the purchase and use of bonded asbestos cement sheeting where the asbestos content is less than

20%.

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Use screening process for each proposed project to determine the appropriate extent and type of environmental assessment so that appropriate studies are undertaken commensurate with the significance of potential impacts and risks.

Conduct an environmental assessment for each proposed project to identify potential direct, indirect, cumulative, and induced impacts and risks to physical, biological, socioeconomic (including impacts on livelihood through environmental media, health and safety, vulnerable groups, and gender issues), and physical cultural resources in the context of the project’s area of influence. Assess potential transboundary and global impacts, including climate change. Use strategic environmental assessment where appropriate.

Examine alternatives to the project’s location, design, technology, and components and their potential environmental and social impacts and document the rationale for selecting the particular alternative proposed. Also consider the no project alternative.

Avoid, and where avoidance is not possible, minimize, mitigate, and/or offset adverse impacts and enhance positive impacts by means of environmental planning and management. Prepare an environmental management plan (EMP) that includes the proposed mitigation measures, environmental monitoring and reporting requirements, related institutional or organizational arrangements, capacity development and training measures, implementation schedule, cost estimates, and performance indicators. Key considerations for EMP preparation include mitigation of potential adverse impacts to the level of no significant harm to third parties, and the polluter pays principle.

Carry out meaningful consultation with affected persons (APs) and facilitate their informed participation. Ensure women’s participation in consultation. Involve stakeholders, including APs and concerned nongovernment organizations, early in the project preparation process and ensure that their views and concerns are made known to and understood by decision makers and taken into account. Continue consultations with stakeholders throughout project implementation as necessary to address issues related to environmental assessment. Establish a grievance redress mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of AP’s concerns and grievances regarding the project’s environmental performance.

Disclose a draft environmental assessment (including the EMP) in a timely manner, before project appraisal, in an accessible place and in a form and language(s) understandable to APs and other stakeholders. Disclose the final environmental assessment, and its updates if any, to APs and other stakeholders.

Implement the EMP and monitor its effectiveness. Document monitoring results, including the development and implementation of corrective actions, and disclose monitoring reports.

Do not implement project activities in areas of critical habitats, unless (i) there are no measurable adverse impacts on the critical habitat that could impair its ability to function, (ii) there is no reduction in the population of any recognized endangered or critically endangered species, and (iii) any lesser impacts are mitigated. If a project is located within a legally protected area, implement additional programs to promote and enhance the conservation aims of the protected area. In an area of natural habitats, there must be no significant conversion or degradation, unless (i) alternatives are not available, (ii) the overall benefits from the project substantially outweigh the environmental costs, and (iii) any conversion or degradation is appropriately mitigated. Use a precautionary approach to the use, development, and management of renewable natural resources.

Apply pollution prevention and control technologies and practices consistent with international good practices as reflected in internationally recognized standards such as the World Bank Group’s Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines. Adopt cleaner production processes and good energy efficiency practices. Avoid pollution, or, when avoidance is not possible, minimize or control the intensity or load of pollutant emissions and discharges, including direct and indirect greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, waste generation, and release of

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hazardous materials from their production, transportation, handling, and storage. Avoid the use of hazardous materials subject to international bans or phase-outs. Purchase, use, and manage pesticides based on integrated pest management approaches and reduce reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides.

Provide workers with safe and healthy working conditions and prevent accidents, injuries, and disease. Establish preventive and emergency preparedness and response measures to avoid, and where avoidance is not possible, to minimize, adverse impacts and risks to the health and safety of local communities.

Conserve physical cultural resources and avoid destroying or damaging them by using field-based surveys that employ qualified and experienced experts during environmental assessment. Provide for the use of “chance find” procedures that include a pre-approved management and conservation approach for materials that may be discovered during project implementation

2.4.4 Other documents relevant to ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement

(i) World Bank Group’s EHS Guidelines, 2007 which are currently under revision. (ii) World Bank Group’s EHS Guidelines for Electric Power Transmission and Distribution. (iii) ADB’s Environmental Safeguards: A Good Practice Sourcebook-Draft Working Document

(November 2012); and (iv) International Labor Organization (ILO) Core Labor Standards.

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3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 3.1 Type of Project 36. The proposed project will strengthen the transmission network by improving the transmission connectivity at extra high voltage 765 kV level between the proposed energy hub in Madurai- Thoothukudi sector located in the southeast region of Tamil Nadu and demand centers in the northern sector of CKIC (i.e., Chennai-Madurai) and Coimbatore. In addition, the proposed project will evacuate bulk power in Thoothukudi region to the 765 kV network through pooling substations at 400 kV level. The project would develop a transmission link from the energy hub in southern CKIC to load centers in northern CKIC, and establishing pooling substation for renewable energy established in southern CKIC. 37. The project’s impact is aligned with the enhancement of industrial development and renewable energy generation in Tamil Nadu and expected to improve the power supply to industrial demand centers in CKIC. The project also includes institutional strengthening initiatives for the state’s power utility such as enhancing the capacity for improved financial management and gender sensitive workplace through technical assistance grant.

3.2 Category of Project 38. The project proposes to finance the construction of the following transmission assets in the state of Tamil Nadu. The assets comprise two new substations, five new transmission lines of voltage ranging from 110 kV to 765 kV, six LILO sections and addition of five bays at three substations (see Table 9).

Table 9: List of Subprojects in CKIC power sector project in Tamil Nadu

No. Sub-Projects Details

S Substation Operating voltages (kV)

S1 Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) 765/400 S2 Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA) 400/230/110

T1. Transmission lines associated with Virudhunagar substation Route Length (km)

1.1 765 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Coimbatore 242 1.2 400 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Kayathar 72 1.3 400 kV double circuit line in and out at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to

Thappagundu (proposed) line 5

T2. Transmission lines associated with Ottapidaram substation Approx. Route Length (km)

2.1 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Udangudi 68 2.2 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Kamuthi 71 2.3 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot -

Kavanoor line 10

2.4 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Savasapuram line

6

2.5 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Ottapidaram - Eppothumvendran

4

2.6 110 kV single circuit line Ottapidaram - Vijayapuri 34 2.7 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for TTN Auto -

T-off Sipcot line 10

S3 New bays at associated substations Quantity

3.1 400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation 2 3.2 400 kV bays at Kayathar substation 2 3.3 110 kV bay provisions at Vijayapuri substation 1

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3.3 Need for the Project 39. The Government of India has recently declared economic corridors to boost the country’s manufacturing sector, and the second phase of the East Coast Economic Corridor is the CKIC in Tamil Nadu. It is estimated that the peak demand in FY2025 would be 27.8 GW with the CKIC implementation whereas it would be only 22.8 GW (7% demand growth) in the business-as-usual scenario. Most of the energy power plants are at significant distances away from the load centres of Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, which would require considerable investments in transmission infrastructure to transfer power to the planned CKIC with improved quality and reliability. Scattered nature of wind and solar power generation would require several “pooling” substations to collect power deliveries and transfer to the 400 kV and 765 kV network for delivery to cities in the northern sector of the state. Therefore, long and high capacity transmission lines are required to be built in a timely manner to deliver generated power to load centres. 3.4 Location 40. The connectivity of the proposed two substations and five new transmission lines of 765 kV, 400 kV), 230 kV and 110 kV lines and five LILO sections of 400 kV, 230 kV and 110 kV is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. The proposed subprojects are located in different areas of the Tamil Nadu State listed in Table 10. Table 11 indicates details of the proposed subproject locations with coordinates for the substation or LILO points. Annexure 3 contains the topographic survey details for the transmission lines showing angle point locations on a 1:25,000 topographic map and the substation locations.

Table 10: Different locations of proposed subprojects

No Sub-Project District

S Substation

S1 Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) Virudhunagar S2 Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA) Thoothukudi

T1 Transmission lines associated with Virudhunagar substation

T1.1 765 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Coimbatore Virudhunagar, Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruppur

T1.2 400 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar - Kayathar Thoothukudi T1.3 400 kV double circuit line in and out at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to

Thappangundu (proposed) line Thoothukudi

T2 Transmission lines associated with Ottapidaram substation

T2.1 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Udangudi Thoothukudi T2.2 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Kamuthi Thoothukudi,

Ramanthapuram T2.3 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot -

Kavanoor line Thoothukudi

T2.4 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Savasapuram line

Thoothukudi

T2.5 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Ottapidaram - Eppothumvendran

Thoothukudi

T2.6 110 kV single circuit line Ottapidaram - Vijayapuri Thoothukudi T2.7 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for TTN Auto - T-

off Sipcot line Thoothukudi

S3 New bays at existing substations

S3.1 400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation Ramanthapuram S3.2 400 kV bays at Kayathar substation Thoothukudi S3.3 110 kV bay provisions at Vijayapuri substation Thoothukudi

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Figure 1: Geographic locations of key assets to be built under the project

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Figure 2: ADB Funded Transmission line network under the project

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Table 11: Location Details of substations, and transmission line from Grid Substations to other substations or LILO points

SNo Description Length Starting Point Ending Point

km Village Name Latitude Longitude Village Name

Latitude Longitude

1. Transmission lines associated with Virudhunagar substation 765/400 kV

T1.1 765 kV DC TL from Virudhunagar 765 kV SS to Coimbatore 765 kV SS

242 Mannarkottai & Valayapatti Village

9° 26' 41.827" N

77° 59' 52.876" E

Near Koundampalayam

11° 14' 51.796" N

77° 26' 58.672" E

T1.2 400 kV DC TL from Virudhunagar 765 kV SS to Kayathar 400 kV SS


9° 26' 41.827" N

77° 59' 52.876" E

Ayyanar Uthu Village

8° 57' 27.872" N

77° 43' 29.739" E

T1.3 400 kV DC TL (line in and Line out) at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to Thappangundu (proposed line)


9° 26' 41.827" N

77° 59' 52.876" E

Malaipatty village

9° 29' 1.892" N 78° 1' 9.807" E

2. Transmission lines associated with Ottapidaram substation 400/230/110 kV

T2.1 400 kV DC TL from Ottapidaram 400 kV SS to Udangudi Switch Yard

68 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Udangudi 8° 26' 3.205" N 78° 3' 30.103" E

T2.2 400 kV DC TL from Ottapidaram 400 kV SS to Kamuthi Switch Yard

71 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Kamuthi 9° 20' 57.983" N

78° 23' 50.9832" E

T2.3 230 kV TL LILO Ottapidaram-Sipcot and Kavanoor

10 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Kumarapuram

8° 54' 42.540" N

78° 7' 54.380" E

T2.4 230 kV TL LILO Ottapidaram-Sipcot and Savaspuram

6 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Venkatachalpuram

8° 54' 15.770" N

78° 5' 47.240" E

T2.5 110 kV Double circuit line in and Line out at Ottapidaram- For Ottapidaram-Eppothumventran

4 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Sinthalakattai

8° 53' 41.320" N

78° 4' 48.410" E

T2.6 110 kV TL Ottapidaram-Vijayapuri

34 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

Vijayapuri 9° 8' 12.820" N 77° 53' 56.840" E

T2.7 110 kV TL LILO Ottapidaram-TTN Auto & T Sipcot feeder

10 Swaminatham 8° 53' 39.695" N

78° 2' 53.010" E

South Veerapandiyapuram

8° 49' 13.780" N

78° 4' 21.690" E

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3.5 Size and Magnitude of the Operation 41. Table 12 provides general information about the substations.

Table 12: Details of Substation Land Area and Coordinates

No Name of Substation

Area of Land in sq meter

Co-ordinates Altitude in meters

S1 Virudhunagar substation

230 acres Swaminthan Village 8° 53' 39.695" N 78° 2' 53.010" E

95 m

S2 Ottapidaram Substation

60.61 acres Mannarkottai & Valayapatti Village 9° 26' 41.827" N 77° 59' 52.876" E

41 m

S3.1

Kamuthi 400/230/110 kV substation

70 Acres (total existing substation)

Ayyanar Uthu Village 8° 57' 27.872" N 77° 43' 29.739" E

29 m

S3.2

Kayathar 400/230/110 kV substation


Kamuthi village 9° 20' 57.983" N 78° 23' 50.9832" E

89 m

S3.3

Vijayapuri 110 kV substation


Vijayapuri 9° 8' 12.820" N 77° 53' 56.840" E

91 m

COMPONENT I. Substation and Bays Subproject S1 - 765/400 kV Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) 42. The work involves construction of Virudhunagar 765/400 kV AIS substation in Tirunelveli Region in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. The work involves construction of the substation is proposed on private land identified and acquired by TANTRANSCO. Equipment details are given in Table 13 and salient features of the site are given in Table 14. Annexure 2 contains substation land details.

Table 13: Equipment at S1: Virudhunagar 765 kV Substation

Equipment Nos Details

1 765 kV Inter-Connecting Transformers (ICTs)

a 765/400kV, 1500 MVA 2 Nos. 2x1500MVA Three phase ICTS b Single phase 765/400 kV 500

MVA ICT 1 No. Spare

2 765 kV connectivity

a Erection of 765 kV DC line with hex a Zebra conductor

Route length of 242 km.

Virudhunagar 765/400 substation to Coimbatore 765 kV substation

3 765 kV Bays

a Transformer Bay 2 b Feeder Bays (Coimbatore 1&2) 2 c Reactor Bays 2 Bus 3x110 MVAR 2 Line 3x110 MVAR 1 Spare 1x110 MVAR d Tie Breaker Bays 3

4 400 kV Bays

a Transformer Bay 2 nos. b Feeder bays: 6 nos. Kamuthi 1x2, Kayathar 1x2 and

Thoppangundu 1x2

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Equipment Nos Details c Reactors bays 2 nos 3x110 MVAR d Tie Breaker Bays 3

5 400 kV Connectivity

a Erection of 400 kV DC line from Virudhunagar 765/400 kV substation to Kayathar 400 kV


Virudhunagar 765/400 kV substation to Kayathar 400 kV

b Erection of 1 no. of 400 kV quad moose DC line and 1 no. 400 kV twin moose DC line

Route length of 5 km

LILO of Kamuthi to Thappangundu 400 kV DC line at Virudhunagar765/400 kV substation.

c 400 kV DC Line on DC tower between Kamuthi 400 kV substation and Thappangundu 400 kV substation (LILO at Virudhunagar 765/400 kV substation).

Table 14: S1-Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA)

No. Feature Description

1 Area of land 230 acres 2 Geographical coordinates 9° 26' 41.827" N 77° 59' 52.876" E 3 Village / town Mannarkottai & Valayapatti Village 4 Ownership of land Private 5 Slope/Plain land Undulating 6 Kind of land Agriculture and barren 7 River/Coast (if any) 61 km from Coastal area 8 Permanent feature nearby if any 100 km from Perumal Peak. 9 Distance from nearest Wildlife

Sanctuary/National Park 62 km Meghamalai WLS, 100 km from Indira Gandhi National Park

43. Land: 230 acres of private land from three parties have been identified. This is a dry land. The land is surrounded by two nearby villages such as Valayapatti which is 2 kilometers on the west and Manarkottai which is 1.5 kilometers on the east. GPS Coordinate: 9° 26' 41.827" N 77° 59' 52.876" E Photographs:

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Left marker of GSS site Right side of Road opposite the GSS site

Left side of road until next marker (GSS on the left side)

Figure 3: Locations for Virudhunagar substation City nearest to project site: 1. Madurai. About 48 km from Virudhunagar 2. Coimbatore: The terminal point of 400 kV transmission line. Subproject S2 - Establishment of 400/230-110 kV substation at Ottapidaram with 2x500 MVA, 400/230 kV ICTs & 2x200MVA, 400/110 kV ICTs 44. The work involves construction of Ottapidaram 400/230/110 kV AIS substation in Tirunelveli Region in Thoottukudi district of Tamil Nadu. The work involves construction of the substation on private land identified and transferred to TANTRANSCO. Equipment details are given in Table 15 and salient features of the site are given in Table 16. Annexure 2 Contains substation land details.

Table 15: Equipment at S2: Ottapidaram Substation

Equipment Nos Details

1 400 kV Inter-Connecting Transformers (ICTs)

a 400/230 kV, 500 MVA 2 Nos. 500MVA Three phase ICTS 400/110 kV, 200 MVA 2 Nos. 200MVA Three phase ICTS

2 400 kV Bays 4 nos.

a Transformer Bay 4 nos. b Feeder bays 4 nos. c Tie Breaker 4


a Erection of 400 kV DC feeder with Quad Moose conductor


Ottapidaram to Kamuthi 400 KV SS

b Erection of 400kV DC feeder with Quad Moos e conductor

Route length of 71 km

Ottapidaram to Udangudi switchyard


a Transformer Bay 2 nos. b Feeder bays: 4 nos.

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Equipment Nos Details c Bus Coupler: 4 nos.


a Erection of DC zebra 230 kV line


Ottapidaram to make LILO of T-off Sipcot-Kavanoor 230 kV line

a Erection of DC zebra 230 kV line


Ottapidaram to make LILO of T-off Sipcot-Savaspuram 230 kV line


a Transformer Bay 2 nos. b Feeder bays: 5 nos. c Bus Coupler: 1 nos.


a Erection of 110 kV DC line Route length of 4 km.

from Ottapidaram to make LILO of existing 110 kV Ottapidaram-Eppothumvendran feeder Ottapidaram to Kamuthi 400 kV SS

b Erection of 110 kV SC line Route length of 34 km.

from Ottapidaram to Vijayapuri 110/10 kV SS

c Erection of 110 kV DC line Route length of 10 km.

from Ottapidaram to make LILO of existing 110 kV Ottapidaram-TN Auto-Sipcot feeder

Table 16: S2- Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA)

No. Feature Description

1 Area of land 60.61 acres 2 Geographical coordinates 9° 26' 41.827" N 77° 59' 52.876" E 3 Village / town Tuticorin. About 36 km from

Ottapidaram 4 Ownership of land Transferred from Ind Bharat to

TNEB 5 Slope/Plain land Plain 6 Kind of land Barren 7 River/Coast (if any) 15 km from Coast 8 Permanent feature nearby if any No permanent feature nearby site. 9 Distance from nearest Wildlife Sanctuary/National

Park 54 km from Kunthangulam Bird Sanctuary (Important Bird Area, IBA)

45. Land: Total land required for the Ottapidaram substation is 60.61 acres. The land was in possession of Ind-Bharat Power Infra Limited (IBPIL), a thermal power producer since 2016. Historically, the land was originally an agricultural land acquired by IBPIL. TNEB has approached Ind Bharat to allocate the land for proposed substation and Ind Bharat has already transferred the land to TNEB. The land is a barren land and not being used by any informal settlers. Figure 4 shows the substation land and its physical location. GPS Coordinate: 9° 26' 41.827" N 77° 59' 52.876" E Photographs:

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Ottapidaram GSS land in Red outline Ottapidaram GSS location

Figure 4: Locations for Ottapidaram substation 46. There is no compulsory land acquisition for the proposed substation. The land has been procured by TNEB through negotiated settlement and through mutual transfer of land from Ind-Bharat to TNEB.

S3.1 – 400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation 47. Altogether five bays will be erected in three substations. The audit report of the three substations is attached as Annexure 5: Environmental Audit Checklist for Electric Power Transmission Substations. According to the audit report, the corrective action should include a plan for the substation facilities should designate special areas/ points for solid waste collection and collect all unwanted scraps for a safe disposal. Storage areas for SF6 gas cylinders and lined facility for transformer oil, and non-hazardous material needs to be improved especially in storage arrangement and prevention of spillage.

48. Configuration of additional equipment to be installed at 400/230/110 kV existing AIS subs

Initial Environmental Examination (Draft) – Main Report...Table 45: Key Features of Tamil Nadu 66...

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