The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has permitted special purpose vehicles (SPVs) or subsidiaries of renewable energy companies to submit land and financial closure documents in place of their parent companies for the grant of connectivity and general network access.

The decision will be effective until the third amendment to the Connectivity and General Network Access (GNA) to ISTS Regulations, 2022, is formally notified.

Background

The petitions were filed by Oyster Renewable Energy (OREPL) and Avaada Energy (AEPL), along with their SPVs, Oyster Green Hybrid One (OGHOPL) and Avaada MPSustainable2 (AMSPL), respectively, for approval of their land documents.

The Central Transmission Utility of India (CTUIL) granted final connectivity to both parent companies in April 2024. However, when the SPVs submitted land documents between March and April 2025, CTUIL rejected them because Regulation 11A required such documents to be in the name of the parent company.

OREPL, which is implementing a hybrid renewable project in Agar, Madhya Pradesh, through its SPV (OGHOPL), submitted that it had already invested ₹7.8 billion (~$90.48 million) in the project, acquired 70% to 97% of the land, and completed up to 31% of the erection work.

Similarly, AEPL, which won a Solar Energy Corporation of India tender, applied for 50 MW connectivity and submitted all project documents through its SPV, AMSPL.

CTUIL maintained that it was bound by the current regulations but expressed no objection to acting on specific or generic directions from the Commission.

Commission’s Analysis

CERC noted that it had used its relaxation powers to allow similar SPV submissions in previous orders. It found that there was no regulatory or commercial risk in allowing land and financial closure documents from SPVs if they are wholly owned subsidiaries of the connectivity grantee.

Recognizing that the draft third amendment to the GNA Regulations already proposes such flexibility, the Commission relaxed Regulations 11A (1) and 11A (2), permitting SPVs to submit the required documents.

The Commission also mandated CTUIL to return the land bank guarantees within seven days of receiving the documents. However, connectivity bank guarantees will be released only after the commercial operation date.

CTUIL was directed to verify the legal status of SPVs and process all submissions accordingly.

Recently, CERC approved tariffs ranging from ₹3.28 (~$0.038) to ₹3.29 (~$0.038)/kWh for NTPC’s 1,170 MW of wind-solar hybrid power projects.

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