On 10 July 2026, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission issued a one-time dispensation (Order in Petition No. 11/SM/2026) for renewable projects that hold inter-state transmission connectivity through legacy Letters of Award but never signed a power purchase agreement.
Answer at a glance: On 10 July 2026, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission issued a one-time dispensation (Order in Petition No. 11/SM/2026) for renewable projects that hold inter-state transmission connectivity through legacy Letters of Award but never signed a power purchase agreement. Eligible developers get 60 days to choose one of four options — exit, substitute, surrender, or continue — and connectivity that is surrendered is recycled to projects that can use it. The CERC connectivity order matters beyond the legal detail: it aligns scarce grid access with execution readiness, which is what determines whether a renewable project is delivered on time.
India's renewable buildout runs on a queue. Before a wind or solar project can deliver a unit of power across state lines, it needs ISTS connectivity — a grant of access to the inter-state transmission system at a specific substation. Under the GNA Regulations, one route to that grant has been a Letter of Award (LoA) from a central renewable energy implementing agency such as SECI, NTPC, NHPC, or SJVN — issued when a developer wins a national tender, with the power purchase agreement expected to follow.
In a meaningful number of cases, the PPA never followed. Industry reporting on the order puts LoA-linked capacity without signed PPAs at around 22 GW, of which roughly 15.7 GW is eligible for release or reassignment under the new mechanism. That connectivity was neither being used nor available to anyone else.
The order creates a one-time, optional window to resolve this. The key parameters, as reported:
Definition: ISTS connectivity is the formal grant that lets a generating project inject power into India's inter-state transmission system at a designated substation. It is governed by the GNA Regulations — the CERC (Connectivity and General Network Access to the Inter-State Transmission System) Regulations, 2022 — which replaced the earlier long-term access regime. Connectivity is a scarce, planned resource: transmission is built ahead of generation, so access held by projects that are not progressing is capacity denied to projects that are.
The order is deliberately choice-based rather than punitive. Each eligible developer decides which path fits the reality of its project:
Two design choices stand out. First, every path preserves discipline: keeping connectivity requires fresh financial commitment and a dated delivery obligation, not just intent. Second, surrender is made orderly and face-saving — the regulation treats it as a legitimate business decision and immediately recycles the capacity to the queue behind it.
Transmission is planned and built years ahead of the generation it serves, and substation bays are finite. When connectivity sits with a project that is not moving, the cost is invisible but real: a project that is ready — land secured, offtake signed, financing closed — waits behind one that is not. Across gigawatts, that waiting compounds into slower national capacity addition and later delivery dates for the businesses and utilities contracted to buy the power.
The order's significance is that it re-links grid access to execution. A developer that keeps its connectivity does so by putting money and a commissioning date behind it. A developer whose project has stalled can hand the access back without stigma. Either way, the transmission system ends up serving projects that are actually being built. It is a framework that rewards execution-ready, well-capitalised developers with signed offtake — and that, in turn, is what compresses renewable project timelines across the sector.
It is worth being precise about roles here. Transmission planning and connectivity rules are the domain of the regulator and the transmission utilities; this order is CERC keeping that framework aligned with ground reality. Developers respond to the framework — by being ready when access is granted. Driving resilient energy systems in an era of global uncertainty depends on exactly this kind of quiet institutional discipline.
For investors, the order is a useful diligence lens. Connectivity status has always been a line item in renewable project appraisal; the one-time window makes it a live indicator of project health. Questions worth asking of any portfolio: which projects hold connectivity against legacy LoAs, which option was elected, and how credible is the revised commissioning date against the 24- or 30-month cap?
The same lens extends to developer selection. A renewable platform is only as good as the projects behind it, and a project is only as good as its grid access and its delivery record. A developer with signed offtake, secured connectivity, and a track record of commissioning on schedule carries materially less execution risk than one whose pipeline rests on paper positions. The order makes that distinction easier to see — the market is being sorted, visibly, into projects that are ready and projects that are not.
That the mechanism arrived through consultation is itself part of the story. The final order followed a draft mechanism published earlier in 2026, and industry reporting notes that the final version eased key terms — the election window was extended from 30 to 60 days, and the performance bank guarantee for retained connectivity was reduced to ₹8 lakh/MW. The direction of travel is consistent: keep the GNA framework aligned with ground reality, protect the sanctity of the connectivity queue, and return scarce capacity to use quickly. For government and regulatory readers, the order reads less as a one-off intervention than as a template — evidence that connectivity, once granted, will be actively stewarded rather than passively held.
Resolven approaches the market the way this framework rewards: projects developed with connectivity, land, and offtake in place before commitments are made, and commissioning timelines treated as contractual obligations rather than aspirations. That execution discipline — across utility-scale projects and green power solutions for enterprises — is what gives investors, offtakers, and government stakeholders delivery dates they can rely on, in a sector where the regulator has just made reliability the organising principle.
Does the order affect power supply from operating projects?
No. It applies to connectivity held against legacy LoAs where a PPA was never signed. Operating projects and contracts already in force are untouched.
Is this a penalty on developers?
It is structured as an optional, one-time dispensation, not an enforcement action. Developers choose the path that fits their project; even continuing under the existing rules remains available. The conditions attached — guarantees and dated commissioning obligations — apply only to those who elect a new path.
What happens to connectivity that is surrendered?
It is recycled: offered first to existing connectivity holders at the same substation, then auctioned. The reported pool eligible for release or reassignment is roughly 15.7 GW — grid access returning to projects that can put it to use.
How does the final order differ from the draft mechanism?
The four-option structure was retained, but industry reporting notes two significant relaxations: the window to elect an option was extended from 30 days in the draft to 60 days in the final order, and the performance bank guarantee for retaining connectivity was reduced to ₹8 lakh/MW.
Regulatory orders rarely make headlines, but this one shapes something every investor and policymaker cares about: whether promised projects turn into delivered power, on schedule. Aligning growth, sustainability and energy security in the transition era is built on exactly such foundations — and on producers whose delivery record supports the sustainability commitments their customers have made.
