Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) has approved a ceiling tariff of Rs 4.37 per unit for Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model solar projects to be implemented on government buildings under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.
The order came on a petition filed by the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), which had sought approval for a ceiling tariff of Rs 5.42 per unit to initiate competitive bidding for developers. The petition was heard on August 20, 2025, and the final order was issued the next day.
The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, launched by the Centre on February 29, 2024, with an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore to be implemented till 2026-27, mandates rooftop solar saturation of government buildings across India.
The Governor of Assam, through a notification issued on October 23, 2024, designated APDCL as the nodal agency for implementing the scheme in the state.
APDCL proposed a tariff based on a Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) of 13.5%, which would result in Rs 5.42 per unit.
AERC, however, found the CUF assumption low and fixed it at 16 per cent, based on actual generation data from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC).
The Commission also factored in a 14 per cent Return on Equity (RoE) while arriving at the revised ceiling tariff.
In its order, the commission observed that APDCL's proposed tariff was "on the higher side" and stressed that the revised tariff would better reflect real generation performance in Assam.
With this approval, APDCL can now invite bids from developers under the RESCO model, where developers will install, operate, and maintain rooftop solar plants and sell electricity to government buildings at the approved tariff.
The Commission's decision is expected to boost solar rooftop adoption in Assam while ensuring cost efficiency for government institutions.
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