Net metering in West Bengal, explained
West Bengal’s rooftop rules were rewritten by the WBERC Grid Interactive Rooftop Solar PV (Prosumers) Regulations, 2025, notified on 31 July 2025. For almost every home and business, the result is simple net metering.
- Who: any consumer with at least 1 kW of contract demand.
- How big: from 1 kW up to 500 kW, or your contract demand / sanctioned load — whichever is lower.
- How it works: exported units are set off against imported units at your own tariff, so an exported unit is worth the same as one you avoided buying.
- Carry-forward: surplus carries to the next bill — but it is reset to zero on 1 April each year, with no payout.
- One meter, one plant: net metering works per consumer number. Two connections need two systems.
- Connection: low tension up to 170 kW (200 kVA); 11 kV above that.
Time-of-day bills: where solar units land
Many commercial and industrial connections in West Bengal are billed by time of day, with three blocks:
Under the 2025 regulations, consumption in each block is set off against generation in the same block. Surplus moves only down to the next lower-tariff block. Solar generates in the normal block, so its surplus can reach off-peak units — but never the peak block.
- Size an industrial plant to your normal-band consumption first; off-peak is the overflow.
- The only way to reach peak-hour units is a battery discharging in the evening.
- If you plan to leave the ToD category, do it before applying for net metering, not after.
Approvals: net metering, CEIG and fees at actuals
- Net-metering application to your DISCOM — we prepare and file it.
- Up to 10 kW in West Bengal, no separate technical feasibility study is needed.
- 100 kW and above in West Bengal, the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector (CEIG) must approve the plant before it is energised.
- Fitness certificates are renewed every 3 years up to 170 kW and every 2 years above that.
DISCOM application fees, net-meter charges, CEIG fees and security deposits are set by the utility or the state. They are paid at actuals. We list them in writing and file every document, but we never bury them in a round number.