The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has proposed shortening the scheduling time in the real time market (RTM) in the power exchanges from 75 minutes to 50 minutes before delivery.

Introduced in June 2020, the RTM operates with a gate closure occurring 60 minutes before the start of the delivery block. The existing framework allows beneficiaries to revise schedules up to the seventh or eighth time block before delivery.

Under the framework proposed by CERC in a staff paper, the revision of schedules would end 50 minutes before delivery, down from 75 minutes, while the RTM bidding window would be reduced from 15 minutes to five.

The CERC said the operational experience suggests that the actual time needed for entities to bid in the RTM is much shorter when automated. The five-minute window is sufficient to place bids in the RTM.

The proposed framework would enable the reduction in scheduling timeline by 25 minutes, bringing the end of revision in the schedule to 50 minutes before the start of the delivery time block.

The proposal aims to improve demand forecasting accuracy, reduce renewable energy curtailment, and improve grid balancing.

CERC has invited stakeholder comments on the discussion paper.

The procedure for scheduling RTM transactions (considering block X as the delivery block) is proposed as follows:

Block X-4 (T-50 to T-45)- bidding window for RTM

Under the proposed RTM timeline, all entities would be given five minutes for bidding on the power exchanges. The window for trade will open from 23:10 to 23:15 hrs of (D-1, considering D as the delivery day), for the delivery of power for the first two time blocks of the first hour of the day, i.e., 00:00 to 0):30 hrs, and will be repeated thereafter.

Block X-3 (T-45 to T-30) – RTM clearing

The power exchanges will be given 15 minutes to clear the real-time bids from 23:15 to 23:30 hrs of D-1 based on the available transmission corridor and market splitting in case of congestion checks, and the buy and sell bids for the specified duration and intimate the cleared bids to the  National Load Despatch Centre by 23: 30 hrs for scheduling.

Block X-2 (T-30 to T-15)- AS price discovery & TRAS dispatch run

From 23:30 to 23:45 hrs, RTM-AS discovery at NLDC, transfer of bids by power exchanges, scheduling of RTM trades, and the finalization of the Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Services (TRAS) requirement by NLDC must be completed within 15 minutes.

Block X-1 (T-15to T)- Preparation Time

From 23:45 hrs, another 15 min will be used to incorporate TRAS dispatch and to prepare and ramp up the generators. From 00:00 hrs of D, the final delivery of power will be processed for two time blocks of 15 minutes each.

Grid Management

The proposal comes in the context of increasing renewable energy penetration into India’s grid.

India’s renewable energy capacity, including large hydroelectric projects, accounted for up 51.7% of the country’s cumulative power capacity, with 276.5 GW installed at the end of the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker.

CERC noted that increasing renewable penetration has intensified grid management challenges due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar generation, leading to more frequent curtailment of renewable energy and system balancing concerns.

The central regulator said advancements in automation and the implementation of systems such as the National Open Access Registry make it feasible to compress several operational activities, including Security Constrained Unit Commitment, Security Constrained Economic Dispatch, and ancillary service dispatch processes.

According to the proposal, RTM bidding for the first delivery block of the day would open from 23:10 to 23:15 hrs, followed by market clearing from 23:15 to 23:30 hrs. Schedule preparation and communication would then take place between 23:30 and 00:00 hrs before actual power delivery begins at midnight.

The paper noted that renewable energy developers and distribution companies had repeatedly sought shorter gate-closure timelines to better align generation schedules with real-time weather and grid conditions. They had urged the CERC to reduce the schedule revision window to improve deviation management and minimize penalties under the Deviation Settlement Mechanism.