India tells clean energy firms to lose grid connection or generate power

NHPC

13/07/2026 10:08

NEW DELHI, July 13 (Reuters) - India has asked renewable energy companies to either surrender transmission rights or provide higher bank guarantees if they fail to generate power, as the country seeks to free up grid capacity for projects that are actually producing electricity, according to a regulatory order.
Here are some details:
The companies can also transfer transmission rights for their group utility that are generating but does not have connectivity to grid, an order from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission dated July 11 said.
A substantial amount of renewable energy capacity has been awarded between 2019-2025 to power producers, but most of it does not yet have customers, the CERC said.
As a result, transmission access is being occupied by projects that may not move ahead, and CERC believes about 15.7 GW of this connectivity could be released for other developers.
Power producers can also retain transmission connectivity, provide additional bank guarantees, but develop the power project independently, the CERC said. 
Connectivity surrendered will first be offered to existing applicants in the same substation cluster and any remaining capacity will be auctioned.



 (Reporting by Sethuraman NR, Editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))