The Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) announced generic tariffs for rooftop and small solar projects under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program with a subsidy rate of 80%.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) had requested the Commission to establish the generic tariff for the solar projects with an 80% subsidy.   These tariffs would apply to projects with a capacity of up to 10 kW, above 10 kW and up to 100 kW, and above 100 kW and up to 500 kW, for the financial year (FY) 2020-21.

The Commission had previously established generic tariff considering 0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 70% and 90% subsidy rates. Considering that a change in every single percentage point of subsidy, tariff per unit gets affected significantly. The Commission decided to set the generic tariff for the grid-connected rooftop and small solar projects with a subsidy of 80%, which it had not considered earlier.

Taking into consideration the accelerated depreciation benefit, the Commission approved a generic tariff of ₹3.48 (~$0.047)/kWh for projects up to 10 kW, ₹3.14 (~$0.043)/kWh for projects above 10 kW, and up to 100 kW, ₹2.90 (~$0.039)/kWh for projects above 100 kW and up to 500 kW, and ₹2.85 (~$0.039)/kWh for projects above 500 kW and up to 1 MW.

The central government announced the guidelines for the PM-KUSUM program in July last year with the following components:

Component A: Set up 10 GW of decentralized ground-mounted grid-connected solar projects of individual project size of up to 2 MW

Component B: Install 1.75 million standalone solar-powered agriculture pumps of individual capacity up to 7.5 HP

Component C: Solarize 1 million grid-connected agriculture pumps of individual capacity up to 7.5 HP

The ceiling tariff set by the Commission will be applicable for projects commissioned or to be commissioned on or after April 01, 2020, and will remain functional until further notice issued by the Commission.

Earlier, while reviewing the benchmark capital cost and generic tariff for grid-connected rooftop and small solar projects for the FY 2019-20, the Commission had determined the levelized tariff for each category considering subsidy of 0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 70%, and 90%, which was extended up to September 30, 2020.