Renewable energy policy roundup from central, state and government agencies in India for the month of April 2017:

There are 27 member states and union territories now participating in the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). Mizoram was the 27^th state to join the program.

The government of India approved the proposed amendments to the Achievement-linked Incentives and Awards program for grid-connected rooftop and small solar power projects effective as of April 3, 2017.

The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) set the benchmark tariff for wind power in Andhra Pradesh at Rs.4.35 (~$0.067)/kWh with accelerated depreciation, and Rs.4.76 (~$0.073)/kWh without accelerated depreciation.

The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) set the state’s renewable purchase obligation (RPO) for FY2017-18 at nine percent.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released draft guidelines for tariff-based competitive bidding process for wind power projects.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) set Rs.4.36 (~$0.064)/kWh as the benchmark tariff for grid-connected large-scale solar projects for FY2017-18.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) made solar rooftop material and equipment exempt from customs and excise duty.

Government of India enacted a bill that will utilize the Clean Environment Cess collected on coal (India’s version of carbon tax), to finance the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation Fund.

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) set Rs.4.50 (~$0.066)/kWh as the new benchmark tariff for solar PV projects and Rs.10.19 (~$0.157)/kWh for solar thermal projects without accelerated depreciation (AD). The AD component of the tariff has been fixed at Rs.0.09 (~$0.0014)/kWh for solar PV and Rs.0.21 (~$0.0032)/kWh for solar thermal.

To spur rooftop solar, the state government of Gujarat removed the capacity restriction of 50 percent of the approved load or contracted demand by small residential rooftop owners. Now, residential consumers can install rooftop solar systems for as much capacity as they would like.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) proposed a new levelized generic tariff for the purchase of electricity from small hydro projects, biomass with Rankine cycle, non-fossil fuel based co-generation, biomass gasifier and biogas based projects for FY2017-18.