How big is India's transmission network?

OverWatts maps 271,000 km of transmission line in India, across 22,495 segments, plus 739 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.

What voltage is India's grid?

Most of the mapped network is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV): 116,600 km of 271,000 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 1,200 kV.

How complete is the grid map for India?

Strong — 86 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 99% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.

Who operates the grid in India?

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, MSETCL, Bihar State Electricity Board and 5 others are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 3% of India's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.

What interconnectors connect India to its neighbours?

3,913 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, plus 10,520 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

India · electricity network

India power grid

OverWatts maps 271,000 km of India's electricity transmission network across 22,495 line segments and 739 substations, the 2nd most-mapped grid of 153 countries. Its backbone is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV), carrying 116,600 km — 43% of the mapped length, with the highest tagged voltage at 1,200 kV. That works out to 86 km per 1,000 km² of land — strong OpenStreetMap coverage, ahead of 99% of mapped countries. It is connected to 4 neighbouring grids by 3,913 MW of existing cross-border transfer capacity, with a further 10,520 MW planned.

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271,000 km

Mapped transmission line

739

Substations

of 153 mapped grids

3.9 GW

cross-border · 4 neighbours

1,200 kV

Highest voltage

OpenStreetMap coverage

Strong86 km / 1,000 km²ahead of 99% of 153 mapped countries

This grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn India's network — not how much network exists. Large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone, and every kilometre here is mapped length, so the totals are a floor rather than an operator-reported figure. 4% of segments carry a real line name and 3% an operator tag.

Mapped line length by voltage

≥765 kV42,000 km 15%
380–764 kV116,600 km 43%
220–379 kV111,600 km 41%
<220 kV437 km 0%
Voltage untagged385 km 0%

22,495 segments · a segment is credited to the country containing its midpoint, so a border-crossing line counts once, on one side.

3.9 GW existing · 10.5 GW planned · capacities from the Global Transmission Database v0.1 (CC BY 4.0), existing as of 2023

On the interactive map

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Load against the network

412 GW

Operating generation

Data centres mapped

367

km of line per substation

km per 1,000 km²

Where there is room to connect a new load depends on published hosting capacity, which most operators release only as their own map. OverWatts does not yet ingest those feeds, so these are the density measures the open data supports — generation and mapped demand against mapped network — not a headroom figure.

Segment counts from OSM `operator` tags, merged across spellings. Present on 3% of segments — this ranks who is recorded, not market share.

How India compares · mapped grid by country

1. People's Republic of China624,300 km
2. India271,000 km
3. United States of America239,100 km
4. Russia165,600 km

Frequently asked

How big is India's transmission network?: OverWatts maps 271,000 km of transmission line in India, across 22,495 segments, plus 739 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.
What voltage is India's grid?: Most of the mapped network is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV): 116,600 km of 271,000 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 1,200 kV.
How complete is the grid map for India?: Strong — 86 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 99% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.
Who operates the grid in India?: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, MSETCL, Bihar State Electricity Board and 5 others are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 3% of India's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.
What interconnectors connect India to its neighbours?: 3,913 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, plus 10,520 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Elsewhere in India

Transmission lines Substations Power plants Data centres

Network geometry: OpenStreetMap (ODbL) © OpenStreetMap contributors, ingested and measured by OverWatts · derived 2026-07-26. Counts every mapped line of 220 kV and above; the map layer draws the ≥380 kV backbone only, so it shows less than is measured here.