Law and regulationEvent
India: CERC generic tariffs for 2025–26 — biogas 10.88 Rs/kWh, biomass 9.43–10.63 Rs/kWh
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) set generic tariffs for 1 July 2025 – 31 March 2026: biogas 10.88 Rs/kWh, biomass 9.43–10.63 Rs/kWh, bagasse cogeneration 7.33–9.18 Rs/kWh.
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India's Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has published generic tariffs for renewable sources for the period from 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026. For electricity from biogas the rate is 10.88 Rs/kWh, for biomass in the Rankine cycle from 9.43 to 10.63 Rs/kWh (depending on the state), and for bagasse cogeneration from 7.33 to 9.18 Rs/kWh. All values are given before accelerated depreciation is taken into account.
What generic tariffs are
Indian regulations allow the regulator to set, for individual technologies, a rate averaged over the whole project period (a levelised tariff). It is calculated by making assumptions about investment, operating, fuel and financing costs, separately for individual states. CERC tariffs are set by the central regulator; state commissions act separately. The values in this article come from reports on the CERC decision designated 6/SM/2025.
Biomass and bagasse by state
| State | Biomass (Rankine, water cooling), Rs/kWh | Bagasse cogeneration, Rs/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 9.53 | 7.86 |
| Haryana | 10.46 | 9.18 |
| Maharashtra | 10.63 | 8.74 |
| Tamil Nadu | 9.43 | 7.33 |
For bagasse cogeneration, Punjab is also given: 8.43 Rs/kWh.
- Biomass (Rankine cycle)
- Bagasse cogeneration
The difference between states reaches more than 1 Rs/kWh for biomass and more than 1.8 Rs/kWh for bagasse (Haryana against Tamil Nadu). It reflects differences in fuel and investment costs that the regulator assumes in its model.
Biogas
For biogas power plants CERC gives a single national rate: 10.88 Rs/kWh, with no differentiation by state. Biogas is thus treated in this summary separately from solid biomass and bagasse, for which the rates depend on the state.
Earlier proposal from 2022
To give a sense of scale: in August 2022 CERC proposed for biomass in the Rankine cycle for 2022–23 rates from 8.01 to 9.49 Rs/kWh, and for biomass gasifiers from 7.58 to 8.71 Rs/kWh (a Saur Energy report). These were proposals, not final rates, so they serve only as an orientation as to order of magnitude.
Why this matters
Generic tariffs are a reference point for biomass and biogas generators who sell energy to distribution companies. For investors, what counts is not only the level of the rate, but also that it is set for the next period (here: until 31 March 2026) and may change. Indian support for biogas is, however, to a large extent a gas market: CBG, SATAT, the blending obligation and GOBARdhan, which we write about in separate articles (CBG blending obligation, GOBARdhan budget).
Sources
Questions and answers
What does the value before accelerated depreciation mean?
That the stated rate does not take into account the tax benefit of accelerated depreciation, which the investor may apply.
What is a generic tariff (levelised generic tariff)?
It is a rate per kWh averaged over the entire project period, calculated by the regulator on the basis of cost assumptions for a given technology and region. It serves as a reference point for projects subject to regulation.
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