The Grid Controller of India (GRID India) has issued draft guidelines to assess the utilization of transmission connectivity granted to entities.

Stakeholders can submit their feedback by June 7, 2026.

GRID India issued the draft ‘Procedure for assessing the utilization of connectivity or the general network access quantum by the grantee’ to align with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) Connectivity and General Network Access (GNA) to the Inter-State transmission System Regulations, 2025.

The procedure details the utilization pattern of connectivity or GNA quantum by the grantees.

It applies to all connectivity and GNA grantees, as well as parent or subsidiary companies of the grantee, under whose name the project has been executed and registered as the user with the regional load dispatch centers (RLDC).

Under the proposed procedure, the RLDC will compute the transmission or GNA capacity utilization granted to developers by the last day of the month following the end of each quarter.

The utilization of connectivity or GNA will be determined on a block-wise basis and reported as a percentage of effective connectivity or GNA for each time block in a quarter. It will be calculated with reference to transmission connectivity used during solar hours, non-solar hours, or the full day.

If the connectivity grantee is a renewable energy park developer and the entire quantum of connectivity granted is allocated to more than one renewable energy project and/or energy storage system, the utilization of connectivity will be computed separately for each renewable energy power project or energy storage system.

If the entire quantum of connectivity granted to a renewable energy park developer has not been allocated to renewable energy projects/energy storage systems, the utilization of connectivity/GNA will be assessed to the extent of the allocated quantum. For the remaining unallocated connectivity quantum, the utilization will be computed at the level of the connectivity grantee, such as the renewable energy park developer.

For non-renewable energy projects, the percentage of effective connectivity for the quarter will be calculated after excluding schedules arising from ancillary services (DOWN), security-constrained economic dispatch (DOWN), security-constrained unit commitment (DOWN), and block-wise scheduling reductions due to transmission constraints, grid security, or force majeure.

For renewable energy projects, the percentage of connectivity utilization for the quarter will be calculated based on solar hours, non-solar hours, or full-day access.  It will be calculated based on block-wise scheduled power, after deducting schedules arising from ancillary services (DOWN) and reductions of schedules due to transmission constraints, grid security, and force majeure.

For entities drawing power from the grid apart from energy storage systems, the percentage of GNA/transmission connectivity utilization for the quarter will be calculated based on block-wise scheduled power, after deducting reductions in block-wise schedules due to transmission constraints, grid security, or a force majeure event.

For energy storage systems, the percentage of connectivity utilized during solar hours, non-solar hours, or a full day will be calculated separately based on power injections and withdrawals from the energy system. The percentage of connectivity utilization must also deduct schedules arising from ancillary services (DOWN) and reductions in schedules due to transmission constraints, grid security, or a force majeure event.

The time-duration curve of block-wise percentage utilization of connectivity during solar and non-solar hours, and for the full day, must be computed and submitted to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

In another measure to address unutilized transmission capacity, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission proposed a one-time framework to address renewable energy projects that secured transmission connectivity under the GNA regulations based on Letters of Award, but for which power purchase agreements have not been signed within 12 months.

The push to free unutilized connectivity comes against the backdrop of rising concerns about inadequate grid infrastructure availability to support the growing renewable energy sector. According to data from the Central Electricity Authority, India achieved 47.5% of the cumulative target of 10,696 ckm set for the period April to December in the financial year 2025–26.