On July three the finance ministry exempted TBEA Energy India, Nanjing Electric India, New Northeast Electric India and Taikai Electric India from the security clearance requirement under the Public Procurement Order, allowing them to bid for government and public sector power contracts until 2028. The move is being treated as a transitional measure to bridge a near-term supply-demand gap until domestic capacity expands and procurement lead times normalise. Analysts expect limited impact on incumbent suppliers given their technological advantage and market position.

Market analysts note that established high-voltage direct current suppliers such as GE Vernova T&D India, Hitachi Energy and Siemens Energy retain technological leadership and a broad product portfolio that supports their dominant market share across critical categories. The entry of new suppliers from China is anticipated to spur price-based competition in the short to medium term and to improve equipment availability, which should ease execution pressures across transmission projects, according to brokerage reports and ratings firms.

TBEA’s installed capacity is around 10,000 megavolt-ampere (MVA), scalable up to 20,000 MVA within a few years, while the Indian arm of Nanjing Electric produces low-volume glass and composite insulators at its Igatpuri facility. New Northeast Electric India manufactures gas insulated switchgear up to 1,100 kilovolt with a domestic capacity of 696 bays a year at Visakhapatnam. Taikai Electric India makes and assembles GIS from 132 kilovolt to 765 kilovolt with capacity of up to 1,000 bays a year at Vadodara.

Supply shortages have already delayed one in four major transmission schemes by at least a year, leading to nearly 20 GW of renewable energy capacity facing connectivity delays of over four months this fiscal, research firm Ember has reported. The transmission sector is likely to witness capex of upwards of Rs five trillion (tn) over the next five years, which should support order books for most manufacturers. Risk to domestic companies would rise if the government extends project timelines or permits direct imports, but domestic supplies are expected to improve over the next one to two years.