This paper formulates and solves a techno-economic planning problem of reactive power (VAR) in power transmission systems under loadings. The objective of the proposed research work is to minimize the combination of installation cost of reactive power sources, power losses and operational cost while satisfying technical constraints. Initially, the positions for the placement of reactive power sources are determined technically. Different cost components such as VAR generation cost, line charging cost etc. are then added in the total operating cost in a most economical way. Finally, the optimal parameter setting subjected to reactive power planning (RPP) is obtained by taking advantages of hybrid soft computing techniques. For the justification of the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed approach the entire work is simulated on two inter-regional transmission networks. To validate the robustness and ease of the soft computing techniques in RPP the responses of benchmark functions and statistical proof are provided simultaneously.