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Thursday, October 01, 2015

Guyed Transmission Towers- Indian Innovation journey in Valley of Death

Young Rajiv Gandhi, during his visit abroad noticed that transmission lines there were erected in a different way carried by helicopters. His comments were noticed and one public sector undertaking TSL (Triveni Structurals Limited) Naini ventured to develop the guyed transmission towers in India. Their proposal for development of various types of 400KV and 765KV self supporting and guyed type transmission line towers was approved by DSIR under PATSER in 1997. TSL successfully designed , fabricated towers and type tested at SERC, Chennai.
Then began the journey thru the Valley of Death. Several meetings were held with Power Grid Corporation for a pilot demo in 5 km and every meeting ended with `Yes, But'. The public sector undertaking TSL turned sick, researcher Tripathi retired and I closed the file with audit remarks about wasteful expenditure.
Today, the news report that this innovation will land up in J&K, for the transmission line of Sterlite by supplier Burns & McDonnel. While I am happy to see adoption of this innovation in India, cannot forget the image of dejected researcher Tripathiji.     

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