Gujarat open-access charges for FY 2026-27: the complete, cited stack
Every charge a Gujarat C&I consumer pays on open-access renewable power this year, read from the GERC and GETCO orders, and what it adds up to per unit at 11 kV and 66 kV.
Open access lets a factory or commercial building in Gujarat buy renewable power from a plant elsewhere in the state. The plant's tariff is only part of the price. On its way to the meter, every unit picks up transmission and distribution charges, surcharges payable to the distribution company, and losses. This note sets out each of those charges for FY 2026-27 as the regulators have fixed them, and shows what they add up to.
All values below were read from the orders themselves on 12 October 2026. The Open Access Charges Tracker keeps them up to date, with page references.
The charges, one by one
| Charge | FY 2026-27 value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-subsidy surcharge (CSS) | ₹1.33/kWh, one value for all HT consumers | DISCOM tariff orders, 25 Mar 2026, Table 9-3 |
| Additional surcharge | ₹0.99/kWh from 1 Oct 2026 (₹0.76 from 1 Apr to 30 Sep) | GERC Order No. 05 of 2026 (and No. 02 of 2026) |
| GETCO transmission charge | ₹3,858.96/MW/day (FY 2025-26: ₹3,918.01) | GETCO tariff order, Case No. 2419/2024 |
| Wheeling charge (11–33 kV) | ₹0.2352/kWh | DISCOM tariff orders, Table 9-2 |
| Wheeling loss (11–33 kV) | 6.50% | DISCOM tariff orders, §9.3 |
| Transmission loss | 3.70% (SLDC actual, Aug 2026; GERC normative 3.37%) | SLDC Gujarat |
| Banking charge | ₹1.00/kWh of banked energy from 1 Sep 2026 (₹1.50 before) | GEOA (Sixth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 |
Consumers supplied at 66 kV or above draw from the transmission network, so wheeling charges and wheeling losses do not apply to them.
Turning a ₹/MW/day charge into ₹ per unit
GETCO bills transmission on capacity, not energy. A solar plant runs at about 20% of its capacity over a year, so each megawatt delivers roughly 1,752 MWh. At ₹3,858.96 per MW per day, that works out to about ₹0.80 per unit injected. Per unit actually received at an 11 kV meter, after losses, it is about ₹0.89. For a wind-solar hybrid plant, which runs at a higher capacity factor, the same charge falls to about half that per unit. That offsets part of hybrid's higher tariff, but on our current assumptions hybrid still lands higher than solar (₹7.89 against ₹7.49 per unit at 11 kV under a PPA). Its advantage is supplying more of the night-time load, with less energy banked.
What it adds up to
For solar power bought under a third-party PPA at ₹3.50/unit at the plant, the cost at the consumer's meter builds up like this:
| ₹ per unit at the meter | 11 kV | 66 kV |
|---|---|---|
| Solar generation (PPA tariff) | 3.50 | 3.50 |
| Cost of losses | 0.39 | 0.13 |
| Transmission (GETCO) | 0.89 | 0.83 |
| Wheeling | 0.24 | — |
| Cross-subsidy surcharge | 1.33 | 1.33 |
| Additional surcharge | 0.99 | 0.99 |
| Banking (15% of energy banked) | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Landed cost | 7.49 | 6.94 |
The open-access charges more than double the price of the power itself. Two of them, CSS and additional surcharge, total ₹2.32 per unit. They are paid to the distribution company to compensate it for losing the customer.
The HTP-I energy charge that open access displaces is ₹4.00 to ₹4.30 per unit, depending on billing demand, plus a base fuel surcharge of ₹2.45 frozen for the year. Monthly fuel surcharge adjustments and time-of-day charges come on top. So for many HT consumers, a third-party PPA on these terms costs about the same as the grid, or more.
Why captive buyers see a different picture
Captive users, who own at least 26% of the generating company and use at least 51% of its output, do not pay CSS or additional surcharge. Remove those two lines and the same solar plant lands at about ₹5.17 per unit at 11 kV, and ₹4.62 at 66 kV. We look at that choice in detail in Third-party PPA or group captive?
Points still open
- Transmission loss. We use SLDC's latest monthly actual (3.70%). GERC's normative figure for the year is 3.37%. We are confirming which one SLDC applies in open-access energy accounting.
- HT loss wording. The DISCOM orders' loss table gives 6.50% for HT injection and delivery. The text below the table mentions 6.71% for HT. We follow the table, which the CSS formula also uses.
- Banking share. The banking charge applies only to energy banked. 15% is typical for a solar plant serving a two-shift factory, but your own load pattern sets the real figure.
Method: values read from GERC, GETCO, SLDC and CEA documents on 12 Oct 2026. Per-unit figures are computed with the ClimeQuant engine for a solar plant at 20% capacity utilisation, ₹3.50/unit PPA tariff and DGVCL supply. Figures are indicative and not tariff advice.