Electrical Inspector (CEI) Approval for Solar: When You Need It

Whether a rooftop solar plant needs the Electrical Inspector (CEI) comes down to two numbers that your state, not the Centre, notifies: a voltage and a generating capacity. The Central Electricity Authority's 2023 safety regulations carry no kilowatt figure of their own. The Regulations send an installation above the notified voltage, and the apparatus of a generating unit above the capacity, to the state's inspector (called CEI, CEIG or simply Electrical Inspector, depending on the state) before supply starts. At or below the notified voltage, the owner certifies the installation personally and files a report. Whether the capacity number reaches a 415 V rooftop plant is not spelled out in the text, so get the inspectorate's written view (see the box below the table).

That is why a factory owner who has signed for a 120 kW plant, with the panels up and the inverter wired, can be asked for a "CEI certificate" that some of your earlier jobs needed and others did not. Nobody on the team can say why, until you know which number your state has set.

This guide reads the Gazette text of the Regulations, then the official pages of eight places that handle the inspector's step. Every figure carries its source, jurisdiction and date. It is a process guide for installers, not legal advice, and where a document is silent we say so. For the short definition, see our CEI glossary entry.

How this was checked: we opened every source cited here on 31 October 2026. CEA now serves the Hindi Gazette text of the Regulations. We read Regulations 2, 32, 34 and 45 in it page by page and compared them with the English text of the same Gazette issue, which CEA used to serve at cea.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/notification/2023/06/pdf_100_183_English.pdf. That path returns 404 since CEA rebuilt its site, so we opened the Internet Archive's snapshot of that CEA file. Words in quotation marks are from the English text. The Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu inspectorate sites would not load, so those states are read through BESCOM, MSEDCL, the GERC gazette and the TANGEDCO FAQ. We saw trade reports of 2026 state notifications that we could not open in an official copy, and we use none of their numbers.

What the 2023 CEA Safety Regulations say, and what they leave to your state

The Regulations tie the inspector's pre-energisation check to two figures that the Regulations themselves do not state. Regulation 45 sends installations above a "notified voltage", and the apparatus of generating units above a capacity set under Regulation 34, to the Electrical Inspector. Each appropriate Government, which for most rooftop plants means the state government, notifies those figures.

The Regulations were notified on 8 June 2023 and published in the Gazette of India on 12 June 2023, under sections 177 and 53 of the Electricity Act, 2003, replacing the 2010 Regulations. We read the Gazette text on CEA's site (Hindi pages 1 to 99 of the Gazette issue), listed on CEA's page for the Safety Regulations.

Sources: CEA Safety Regulations, 2023, Gazette of India Extraordinary, 12 June 2023 (notification of 8 June 2023). Quotations are the English text of the Gazette issue; we checked them against the Hindi text on CEA's site and against PIB, 5 August 2024, for the self-certification rule.

The Two-Dial Check: voltage dial, capacity dial, then the route

An installer can settle the CEI question in ten minutes with the Two-Dial Check. One dial is the voltage at which the plant connects to the consumer's installation. The other is the plant's generating capacity. Compare each with the number your state has notified, and the route follows.

1. 1

   Read the voltage dial

   Find your state's notified voltage and compare it with the voltage of the installation the plant feeds, such as 415 V low tension or 11 kV high tension. If the installation is above the notified voltage, the inspector route applies.

2. 2

   Read the capacity dial

   Find the capacity your state notified under Regulation 34 and compare it with the plant's generating capacity. Watch the unit. Documents quote kW, kVA and kWp, which are not the same thing, so write the unit next to the number, and ask whether the office counts inverter AC capacity or panel kWp.

3. 3

   Choose the route

   If the voltage dial trips, Regulation 45(3) sends the installation to the Electrical Inspector before energisation. If only the capacity dial trips and the plant connects at or below the notified voltage, the Regulations do not clearly say; get the inspectorate's written view first. If neither trips, the owner self-certifies and files the Schedule II report. In every case the owner may ask the inspector to inspect.

4. 4

   Record both numbers with their source

   Write the notification number, its date and the office that issued it in the project file. When a DISCOM clerk asks for a certificate you do not think you need, this is your answer.

5. 5

   Ask what the DISCOM wants anyway

   DISCOMs add their own document lists. MSEDCL's procedure asks for a self-certification and a licensed electrical contractor's test report even where no inspector is needed. Confirm in writing before you build.

Add both figures to the survey sheet, as in our solar site survey checklist. Look for a notification issued after 8 June 2023; a page that cites the 2010 Regulations, or a 2016 or 2017 notification, may have been replaced.

The self-certification route, and when to ask the inspector anyway

Self-certification means the owner, supplier or consumer inspects and tests the installation and signs a certificate in the prescribed form. It applies at or below the notified voltage, and PIB describes it as "mandated" there.

The mechanics, from the Regulations, are short. The report is sent to the Electrical Inspector in the Schedule II forms before supply starts. Regulation 32(3) says the installation "shall be considered as duly inspected and tested only after the report of self-certification is duly received by the office of Electrical Inspector and if not acknowledged by the Electrical Inspector within three working days, it shall be deemed to be received". Regulation 45(1) gives the same rule for starting supply. So the report has to reach the office, and three working days without an acknowledgement counts as receipt. The owner keeps the option of asking the inspector to inspect instead. And, per PIB, a Chartered Electrical Safety Engineer can also test an installation at or below the notified voltage on the owner's request.

Self-certification still means paperwork and checks. The DISCOM's own technical inspection before the meter is a separate step, and the self-certifier carries the safety risk personally. For a factory owner, that is the real question.

Our view: for a plant of 100 kW to 500 kW, where one fault can stop a production line, agree with the owner in the contract whether you will self-certify or ask for an inspector's visit. Decide it before the survey, not at commissioning.

What official pages from eight places say, and how old they are

The official documents we could open give a different number in almost every place, and most were written before the 2023 Regulations. That is not a contradiction. Each is a state's figure at a date, quoted under the older 2010 Regulations or without naming a regulation. Read the last column before you copy a number.

Sources: documents linked in the second column, opened 31 October 2026. kW, kVA and kWp are different units; the documents do not use one unit.

The size figure runs from 10 kW or kVA to 200 kW, and 1 MW in Karnataka, so a 60 kW roof is a yes in some places and a no in another. The units differ, and the pages are old. If your state issued a notification after June 2023, that is the number that counts, not the figures in this table. Treat each row as a starting question for the state inspectorate, and ask for its current notification under Regulations 34 and 45.

Same roof, six documents: a worked example

The same factory roof can need the inspector in four of these six places and not in the other two. The example below is illustrative, with an invented project, and applies each document as written. It is not a statement of what each state requires today.

Assumptions: a non-subsidised, net-metered rooftop plant at a factory on a 415 V connection. Two sizes, 60 kW and 120 kW, treated as the unit each document uses (an approximation, since kVA differs from kW).

Illustrative. Each cell applies the quoted document literally. Confirm against the state's current notification.

The practical lesson is to price the inspector's step by state. Include the fee, the drawing time and the delay for an inspection date in the commissioning timeline that you quote. Our guide to selling rooftop solar to factories covers where that fits in a factory sale, and our payment terms guide covers tying payments to an observable event such as commissioning.

How an application runs, step by step

Where a state has an online process, the inspector's step runs in two stages: drawings first, then inspection and the certificate. Andhra Pradesh's CEIG page is the only official step-by-step we could open, so we use it as the model, and add Gujarat's timetable where it differs.

1. 1

   Prepare drawings

   The single line diagram, earthing diagram and wiring or layout drawings. See our single line diagram entry. Gujarat's regulation gives the Chief Electrical Inspector 10 days to approve them from a duly completed application, before you apply to the DISCOM.

2. 2

   Apply for drawing approval

   In Andhra Pradesh you register on the CEIG website, choose Application for Drawing Approvals, pay the fee it displays from your installation details, and upload the receipt and drawings.

3. 3

   Build to the approved drawings

   Changes after approval can need the inspector's sign-off (see Regulation 45(6) below). Raise them with the inspector's office before you build, not at inspection.

4. 4

   Assemble test certificates and reports

   AP's document list, to be submitted "wherever required", names test certificates for the transformers, isolators, arresters, instrument transformers and breakers, load particulars, and pre-commissioning test reports.

5. 5

   Apply for the statutory certificate

   In AP, drawing approval is a prerequisite. You pay the displayed inspection fee and upload the checklist documents.

6. 6

   Inspection and defect notice

   AP's approving authority gives the inspection date online. After inspecting, it issues any defect notice online, which you view in My Application Status.

7. 7

   Compliance report and certificate

   You upload a compliance report. On receipt, the authority issues the Statutory Certificate online. You then give it to the DISCOM, which in Gujarat lists the CEI's installation charging approval among its completion documents.

Where the inspector route applies, Regulation 45(4) says supply "shall not be commenced" before the inspector's written approval. It is worded for the supplier, but the safe rule for an installer is the same: do not energise the plant for export before the written approval. The one exception is test energisation under Regulation 48, and even then we would get the inspector's office to confirm in writing what is allowed.

Where the inspector sits in your approval order

The inspector's step usually comes before the DISCOM's meter and commissioning. In Gujarat part of it comes before you apply to the DISCOM: GERC's Regulation 7 timetable (6 Sep 2024) has the Chief Electrical Inspector approving the drawings within 10 days, then lists the CEI's installation charging approval among the documents due at completion. In Maharashtra, MSEDCL's SoP (file dated 4 Apr 2022) asks at completion for a self-certification with the contractor's test report, and for inspector permission only above 200 kW. The order differs by state, so write it into your process instead of assuming one.

For the DISCOM side, our DISCOM approval process and commissioning process guides carry the full sequence, the feasibility clearance guide and MSEDCL guide cover the front end, and our DGVCL net metering guide follows Gujarat's timetable in more detail. We found no official source for some figures in older posts on this site, such as how many days an inspection takes, and we do not repeat them here.

After approval: changes, expansions and batteries

Approval covers the installation as inspected. Regulation 45(6) says an alteration or addition cannot be connected until the inspector approves it in writing or, where it applies, the owner self-certifies it. A second inverter, extra strings or an added battery all count.

Three more events bring the inspector back. A shutdown of six months or more means the installation is inspected or self-certified again before supply is restored (Regulations 45(1) and 45(3)). Periodic inspection or self-certification must happen at an interval of no more than five years (Regulation 32). And from 1 April 2027 a new chapter applies to battery energy storage.

The CEA Amendment Regulations of 27 March 2026 (Gazette of India, 30 March 2026) add Chapter 10A, Regulations 122(A) to 122(N), for battery storage connected above 650 V. It also requires an independent third-party fire safety audit within three months of the Regulations coming into force, and the owner must give that audit report to the Electrical Inspector at inspection. Storage connected at 650 V and below must meet the relevant standards. The amendment does not change Regulations 32, 34 or 45.

Selling a battery to an existing customer? Check what the original approval covers before you quote. Our battery upsell guide covers the sales side.

Your CEI tracking table

The inspector's step has more stages than a typical site job, and each has a different owner. Keep one row per project and review the table weekly. The rows below are illustrative: the projects, sizes and days are invented, and the dial numbers stand in for your state's notified figures.

Illustrative rows. Dial results depend on your state's notified figures. Days are working days counted from the stated event; "deemed received" uses the three-working-day rule in Regulations 32(3) and 45(1). In Factory A and School D only the capacity dial trips, so those rows assume the state inspectorate has confirmed in writing that the capacity number applies at that voltage (the open question above).

The two dial answers stop the same argument at every project. The open-defects count shows which sites are waiting on your own crew, not on the inspector's office.

How Quickest Solar CRM fits

The inspector's office and the DISCOM keep the official record. Your CRM is where your own team keeps the promises it made to the customer. Whatever CRM you use, it will not talk to a state inspectorate's portal, so every status below is typed in by a person.

What the pipeline side of Quickest Solar CRM can hold for this work:

• Pipeline stages you can customise: add stages such as "Drawings submitted", "Inspection booked", "Defects open" and "Certificate received", so every C&I project sits in one visible column.
• Labels and follow-up reminders on the lead: label the route ("Inspector" or "Self-certify"), then set a reminder for the day you chase the inspection date.
• Activity log, also on several leads at once: log each call, letter and reference number on the lead. When an inspector's office gives one answer for several projects, log it on all of them together, and filter leads by label for the week's chase list.
• Team members with permissions, dashboard and team report: the weekly review happens in one place, and each person sees only what you allow.

To see this set up with your own stages, book a demo. If your pipeline is still on defaults, our solar pipeline stages guide is a good starting point.

What to do this week

1. Pull your state's notifications. Look on the state inspectorate's website and in the state gazette, or send the four questions above to the office. Find the notified voltage and the Regulation 34 capacity, with the notification number, date and issuing office. Put both in one line at the top of your survey sheet.
2. Run the Two-Dial Check on every open project over 10 kW. Mark each as Inspector or Self-certify, and write the unit next to each number. For any 415 V plant where only the capacity dial trips, ask the inspectorate for its written view before you quote a timeline.
3. Add the inspector's stages to your pipeline and set a reminder on every project that has an inspection pending, so no certificate is chased only when the DISCOM asks for it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Electrical Inspector (CEI) approval for rooftop solar?

It depends on two numbers your state notifies under the CEA Safety Regulations, 2023: a voltage and a generating capacity. The Regulations send an installation above the notified voltage, and a generating unit above the capacity, to the Electrical Inspector before supply starts. For a 415 V rooftop plant the text does not say whether the capacity number applies, so ask the state inspectorate for its written view. In the official pages we read, the capacity figures run from 10 kW or 10 kVA (Tamil Nadu, Kerala) to 56 kWp (Telangana), 200 kW (Maharashtra, non-subsidised) and 1 MW (Karnataka), so a 3 kW to 5 kW home system sits below all of them. Gujarat sets no size floor in its regulation, so ask there.

What is the difference between CEI, CEIG and Electrical Inspector?

They are labels for the same statutory role. The 2023 Regulations speak of the Electrical Inspector of the appropriate Government. Gujarat's regulation says Chief Electrical Inspector (CEI), Telangana's and Tamil Nadu's documents say Chief Electrical Inspector to Government (CEIG), and Kerala's page says Electrical Inspector. Whatever the label, the office sits in the state government, not in the DISCOM.

What is the notified voltage?

It is the voltage the Appropriate Government notifies, under intimation to the Central Electricity Authority, up to which installations can be self-certified under Regulations 32 and 45. Installations above it are inspected by the Electrical Inspector. PIB reported in August 2024 that the Central Government has notified 11 kV for its own jurisdiction. States set their own figure, so the number is not the same everywhere.

Can I self-certify a solar plant instead of calling the inspector?

At or below the notified voltage, the Regulations make self-certification the default for the installation: the owner, supplier or consumer tests it and files a report in the Schedule II format. Regulation 45(3) also sends the apparatus of generating units above the Regulation 34 capacity to the inspector. Whether that reaches a plant connected at 415 V is not clear from the text, so ask your state inspectorate in writing. In every case the owner may choose to have the inspector inspect instead.

How long does CEI approval take?

The official limits we found are two. Gujarat gives the Chief Electrical Inspector 10 days to approve the single line, earthing and wiring diagrams from a duly completed application (GERC, 6 September 2024). Telangana's Regulation 1 of 2025 (15 November 2025) gives the CEIG 15 working days from receipt of the information to test and certify a system above 56 kWp. We found no official source for figures such as 15 to 40 days that circulate in blogs and older posts.

What does CEI approval cost?

Fees are set by each state and we found no fee schedule we could open. Andhra Pradesh's online procedure says the fee is calculated automatically from the installation details you enter, once for drawing approval and again for inspection. Ask your state inspectorate for its current schedule and state in your contract who pays it.

Do I need approval again if I add panels or a battery?

Yes, in principle. Regulation 45(6) says an owner who alters or adds to an installation must not connect the change until the Electrical Inspector approves it in writing or, where self-certification applies, the owner self-certifies it. From 1 April 2027 a separate chapter also applies to battery energy storage systems connected above 650 V, including a third-party fire safety audit report for the inspector.

Does CEI approval replace the DISCOM's own inspection?

No. They are separate steps with separate offices. Gujarat's regulation lists both: the Chief Electrical Inspector's approvals and then the DISCOM's meter installation and commissioning steps. A CEI certificate is one of the documents the DISCOM may ask for. It does not shorten the DISCOM's own checks.