KEC International Wins Rs 2,872 Crore PGCIL 765 kV Line Orders for Gujarat Renewables

KEC International has booked Rs 2,872 crore of 765 kV transmission line work from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), all tied to moving 8.5 GW of renewable power out of Gujarat. It is the largest single order KEC’s India T&D business has ever taken, and it lands one day after Jyoti Structures won a 765 kV line from the state utility in the same state. For owners of backhoe loaders, small excavators and transit mixers in Gujarat, that is two big line jobs chasing the same foundation crews this dry season.

What KEC announced

The order is on KEC’s own press-release page under a Mumbai, 24 October dateline, and CNBC TV18 carried the same figures that morning from the BSE filing. MD and CEO Vimal Kejriwal called it the largest order yet for the India T&D business. KEC says its year-to-date order intake has now crossed Rs 13,500 crore, of which about Rs 9,500 crore is T&D. That ties to the company’s 23 October release, which put intake past Rs 10,600 crore: add Rs 2,872 crore and you land on the new figure, so this is fresh business and not an earlier batch counted twice.

What it means for buyers

Start with where the money goes. On a turnkey 765 kV line, tower steel, conductor and hardware take most of the contract value. The civil part, the foundations, is a minority slice, and nobody has published the split for this order.

A 765 kV line is also a moving job. The work is a few hundred separate tower pits strung along a route, each one dug, reinforced, concreted and backfilled before the crew moves on. That favours a backhoe loader or a compact excavator that can shift sites on its own wheels or on a small trailer, with transit mixers feeding each pit. Where the soil is poor, pile foundations bring in piling rigs, and tower erection uses mobile cranes on some locations. Line EPC firms usually sub-let foundation and erection packages, so expect most of these machines to arrive through sub-contractors and hire fleets.

Now stack it. On 23 October Jyoti Structures won a Rs 689.93 crore 765 kV GETCO line in Gujarat. KEC’s PGCIL order is about four times that size. Both will want foundation crews in the October to June dry window, before the monsoon shuts down pit work.

Our take: without a route length nobody can count the pits yet, so treat this as a strong lead, not a booked fleet. Gujarat owners who already run line foundation work, and hire firms with backhoes and mixers free from November, are best placed. Expect hire rates for those classes to firm up in the state if both jobs mobilise together. Our power and renewable energy equipment guide lists the machine classes these jobs use.

FAQ

What order did KEC International win from PGCIL?

KEC announced on 24 October 2026 that it won Rs 2,872 crore of turnkey orders from PGCIL to design, supply and install 765 kV transmission lines linked to evacuating 8.5 GW of renewable energy from Gujarat. The company says it is the largest order in its India T&D history.

Which machines does a 765 kV line job use?

Mostly tower foundation plant: backhoe loaders and compact excavators for the pits, transit mixers for the concrete, piling rigs where the soil needs piles, and mobile cranes during tower erection. Because the pits are spread along a route, hiring usually beats buying.

When will work start?

KEC has not given a schedule or completion period. Foundation work in Gujarat usually runs in the dry months between the end of one monsoon and the start of the next.

Related on DesiMachines: KEC International’s Rs 1,014 crore 765 kV order from 10 October

Source: CNBC TV18