The government plans to award a big pie of new transmission corridors worth Rs 25,000 crore to Power Grid Corp (PGCIL) on nomination basis. The Tariff Policy provides award of power transmission projects only through bidding, but at the same time it allows the Central government to allot them to state-run PGCIL based on strategic importance, technical upgradation or urgent situations. The government has identified dedicated transmission corridors and substations with capacity to transmit about 18,500 MW electricity from wind and solar plants in western and southern regions. The cost of the projects is estimated Rs 1.25 crore per megawatt. Private transmission companies on the other hand said that discrimination between public and private companies is not in line with the intent of the Electricity Act to promote competition. Private companies last week had expressed resentment against the Centre's decision to allocate more coal to PSU power plants.