Does offshore wind power pay inter-state transmission system charges if the plant is commissioned after 2032?
Offshore wind plants commissioned on or before 31 December 2032 are exempt from inter-state transmission system (ISTS) charges for 25 years from commissioning, under the Ministry of Power order of 29 May 2023. Later plants pay 25% of the charges in 2033, 50% in 2034, 75% in 2035 and 100% from 1 January 2036.
What the 29 May 2023 order says
- Offshore wind power projects commissioned on or before 31.12.2032, established through power purchase agreements (PPAs) or on a merchant basis, shall be granted exemption from ISTS charges for 25 years, starting from the date of commissioning.
- Projects commissioned after 31.12.2032 shall be levied ISTS charges as per a trajectory: 25% of the applicable charges for 1 January 2033 to 31 December 2033, 50% for 2034, 75% for 2035, and 100% from 1 January 2036.
- The order gives its reason as facilitating the execution of offshore wind energy initiatives.
- The waiver is allowed only for ISTS charges, not for ISTS losses.
- The order shall be applied prospectively, from its date of issue.
What decides the share a project pays
The year the plant is commissioned decides the band, and the 25 years run from that commissioning date. The order prints the 25 years only for the exempt group. For the later bands it prints the share of charges but no separate period, so ask the developer how long the share applies before you price a 2033 or later project.
The order also says that a renewable project eligible for the waiver that is granted an extension in commercial operation date by the competent authority is not deprived of the waiver based on its original date. The extension rules for solar and wind have their own page.
What it means if you buy the power
The waiver is a cost item in the landed price. It does not change how the units are accounted for in Scope 2. Ask the developer which band the project sits in, whether the sale is by PPA or merchant, and who carries the charge if the commissioning year moves into the next band.
Share of ISTS charges by commissioning year
- On or before 31 December 2032: exempt for 25 years from commissioning
- 2033: 25% of the applicable charges
- 2034: 50%
- 2035: 75%
- From 1 January 2036: 100%
- A plant commissioned on 1 July 2031 would be exempt to 30 June 2056 on our arithmetic of 25 years from commissioning.
The shares are the order's own. The end date is our arithmetic, not a printed date.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads your electricity bills and fuel invoices into dated records, so the units on your bills are on file. It does not read transmission orders or tell you which waiver band a project falls in; that comes from the developer's commissioning date.
- Is the transmission charge waiver still available?
- Transmission waiver orders by date
- Commissioning delay and the waiver
- Open access charges in India
- Emissions calculators
Sources: Ministry of Power, orders on waiver of inter-state transmission charges, 2020 to 2025 (compiled PDF)
Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Read from the Ministry of Power order of 29 May 2023 (No. 12/07/2023-RCM) in the compiled PDF, on 6 November 2026. The Ministry has amended these orders several times; check the current order before you price a contract. The order prints no period for the later bands; that gap is flagged in the page.