Solar federation urges Govt to extend transmission charge waiver
ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states.
The National Solar Energy Federation of India has written to the Prime Minister’s Office to safeguard the viability of several renewable energy projects at risk due to delays beyond developers’ control.
The Federation urged the government to extend the waiver on the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for projects getting commissioned by one year to next June for projects that have achieved certain progress.
The Federation, representing stakeholders across the solar value chain, stated that while the ISTS waiver announced by the Ministry of Power has played a “pivotal role in making renewable power more competitive,” its delayed implementation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in February 2023 left many developers in a limbo.
ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states. They are imposed to cover the costs relating to building and maintaining transmission lines and other infrastructure required for interstate electricity transfer.
Industry estimates that renewable energy projects of nearly ₹5 lakh crore would be impacted if the waiver of ISTS charges is not extended.
“Several RE developers made early investments, securing land, achieving financial closure and signing definitive agreements based on the original MoP notification,” said the Federation. However, the nearly two-year lag in CERC’s ratification and other uncontrollable factors some of the projects are at risk of missing the commissioning deadline of June 30, making them ineligible for the waiver.
The federation flagged multiple aspects, including prolonged approvals under Section 68(1) of the Electricity Act, delay in transmission planning and connectivity effectiveness and delayed commissioning of critical transmission infrastructure.
Many developers applied for ISTS connectivity well before June 2023, in line with the ISTS waiver policy timelines. However, the effectiveness dates for granted connectivity are being issued much later, often in 2026 or 2027, due to delays in transmission system planning and execution, said the letter.
The Federation has proposed a milestone-based eligibility framework for the waiver. It has recommended that projects that had applied for transmission connectivity on or before June 30, 2023, achieved financial closure, acquired at least 50 per cent of the land required for their development, and placed orders for wind turbine generators and inverters must be considered for the purpose of availing the ISTS waiver.
It has argued that the approach is consistent with CERC’s regulations and recent Ministry of Power notifications granting waiver flexibility to pumped storage and battery storage projects.
The proposed eligibility criteria will ensure that only serious and committed renewable energy developers, who had factored the ISTS waiver into their project design and commercial commitments, benefit from this extension, it said.
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Published on June 8, 2025
