Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued a draft of the Fourth Amendment to the CERC (Connectivity and General Network Access to the inter-State Transmission System) Regulations, 2022. The principal regulations were previously amended three times in April 2023, July 2024, and September 2025.

Regulation 2.1 — New Definition: A new clause (w-i) defining “LAND BG” as a Bank Guarantee furnished under clause (vii)(c) or clause (xi)(c) of Regulation 5.8 is inserted.

Regulation 3.10 — New Provision: An entity is made eligible to seek withdrawal of full Connectivity quantum with return of all BGs where the time gap between the likely start date in the in-principle grant and the start date in the final grant of Connectivity is two years or more, subject to a request being made to the Nodal Agency within 30 days of intimation of final grant.

Regulation 4.1(c): Minimum discharge for ESS of twice the Connectivity quantum (in MWhr) is added at the end of clause (c).

Regulation 4.7 — New Provision: Generating stations including REGS or ESS are made eligible to seek only non-solar hour access at locations other than those under Regulation 4.5(a), to be processed as per Regulation 5.11(c) for non-solar hour access.

Regulation 5.1 — New Proviso: Installed capacity for meeting technical compliances at the Point of Injection (POI) shall not be counted under installed capacity for the purpose of seeking Connectivity at ISTS.

Regulation 5.2 — Multiple Amendments: Minimum discharge condition for ESS is inserted in the main paragraph. Application fees reference under Regulation 3.2 is inserted in clause (a). LAND BG furnishing flexibility is added to clause (h). Three new clauses (l), (m) and (n) are inserted covering ESS with charging REGS, relinquishment or revocation of linked capacity, and inapplicability of specified sub-clauses for technical compliance capacity.

Regulation 5.4 — New Proviso: ESS is required to have minimum discharge of twice the Connectivity quantum.

Regulation 5.6: The reference to “[application under Regulation 4.1(e)]” is deleted.

Regulation 5.8 — Multiple Amendments: Provisos (ii) and (iii) to clause (xi)(a) are substituted with revised provisions for multi-located REGS with single LOA or PPA covering multiple locations, including a detailed illustration. A new proviso fixing Bank Guarantee at Rs. 5 lakh/MW for ESS (excluding PSP) is added to clause (xi)(c). Renewable Power Park Developer is included in clause (xii).

Regulation 6.3: The trigger condition is extended to include situations where the Nodal Agency is unable to carry out the interconnection study within the timeline under Regulation 7.2.

Regulation 7.2: Approval of identified augmentation by competent authority is added as an alternative end point, whichever is later.

Regulation 9.3: The timeline in sub-Regulation 9.3.1 is changed from 18 months to 6 months prior to the firm start date of Connectivity. A second source change is permitted under Regulation 9.3.5 with a fee of Rs. 50,000/MW.

Regulation 11A — Multiple Amendments: In-principle grant of Connectivity is included in the first proviso to clause (1). A new second proviso requires submission of land documents within 15 days of effective date of GNA for specified REGS and ESS applicants. Clause (2) is substituted to require financial closure documents within 15 days of effective date of GNA for REGS, ESS, and Renewable Power Park Developers. Clause (4) main paragraph is substituted to extend PPA-based conversion eligibility to subsidiary, parent, or associated entities. The words “LOA or” in sub-clause (a) of clause (4) are deleted. The words “PPA or” are inserted in sub-clause (d) of clause (5). The term “Connectivity Grantee” in clause (6) and its sub-clauses is substituted with broader language covering entities to whom in-principle or final grant has been intimated.

Regulation 15.4 — New Provision: Regulations 15.1 to 15.3 are made subject to the permitted change in control under clause (6) of Regulation 11A.

Regulation 16.2: The BG return timeline is changed from five equal parts over five years to within one week after expiry of one year from the declaration of COD.

Regulation 17.1: Clause (iv) is deleted.

Regulation 17.5 — New Provision: Drawee entities connected to intra-state transmission system or distribution system may seek direct ISTS connection. GNA grantees under Regulation 17.1(iii) may also connect to the intra-state transmission system or distribution system subject to Nodal Agency consent and applicable charges. Entities with GNARE are excluded unless GNARE is converted to GNA.

Regulations 20.2 and 22.2: Regulation 20.2 is deleted. Clause (c) of Regulation 22.2 is deleted. In clause (d) of Regulation 22.2, the timeline for furnishing GNA charges is changed from one month prior to within 15 days of the effective date of GNA, and a provision is added making entities ineligible for grid transactions if Conn-BGs are not subsisting and required charges are not furnished.

Regulation 22.4(a) — New Proviso: For elements under Regulated Tariff Mechanism, the date of issuance of completion certificate by CTU under the Grid Code is to be considered as the date of effectiveness of GNA for deemed COD purposes, subject to revision by the Commission.

Regulation 23A — New Provision: GNA granted for drawal at a single point for identified load shall be transferable to a new entity that acquires such load, subject to GNA being effective and all dues being cleared.

Regulation 26.1: Clause (b) is deleted.

Regulation 28.5: The proviso to sub-clause (iv) of clause (a) is deleted.

Regulation 37.10: The term “Connection Agreement” is substituted with “Connectivity Agreement” in sub-clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) of clause (b).

Regulation 37.11 — Transition Provision: For cases where one year from declaration of CoD is over as on the date of effectiveness of the Fourth Amendment, the Nodal Agency shall, within one month, return subsisting Conn-BG2 and Conn-BG3 for the corresponding generation capacity, subject to clearing transmission charge dues.

Regulation 39.1 — New Proviso: The Nodal Agency is required to issue revised Detailed Procedure within 60 days of notification of these regulations, after stakeholders’ consultation, and submit the same for the information of the Commission.

Annexure-IV — New Clause (e): For cases under sub-clauses (c) or (d) where multiple applications of source change, Regulation 5.2 and 5.11 are to be processed, the processing timeline for each application shall be subject to the maximum permitted processing timeline of any of the applications.