Feasibility Clearance for Rooftop Solar: What Installers Submit

Feasibility clearance is the distribution company's (DISCOM's) technical yes or no on connecting a rooftop system to its network. Since 22 February 2024 the national rules deem a complete application up to 10 kW accepted without any study, and above 10 kW the DISCOM has 15 days to finish one. In practice applications still stall, because the portal shows only a stage label and each state adds its own rules.

Take a customer in a Surat colony who signs for a 12 kW system. Your team files the application, the portal shows Application Submission, and nothing moves for three weeks. The customer asks what the DISCOM is doing. You need to know which time limit applies, whether the local transformer has room, and who to call next.

This guide reads the official text for each layer: the national rules, the PM Surya Ghar manuals, and the own-site procedures of MSEDCL (Maharashtra), BESCOM (Karnataka) and the Gujarat regulator. Every figure carries its source, jurisdiction and date. It is a process guide, not legal advice, and where a document is silent we say so.

How this was checked: we opened every document cited here on 31 October 2026. The portal itself returned an access-denied page, so portal screens come from MNRE's manuals of June and July 2024 and may have changed. DGVCL's site and the Karnataka regulator's site would not load and Tata Power-DDL's files were blocked, so Gujarat is read through the regulator's gazette and Delhi is left out.

What feasibility clearance checks, and what it leaves for later

The DISCOM checks whether the customer's connection and the local network can carry the capacity you applied for. The documents we read name six things: the load limit, the connection voltage, headroom on the distribution transformer, rooftop capacity already on that transformer, dues on the account and, in Maharashtra, whether the roof has shadow-free area. Our feasibility clearance glossary entry gives the short definition.

Sources: documents named in the last column, opened 31 October 2026.

Inverter phase, single or three, is the item installers ask about most, and the documents are quiet on it. The portal's installation form has a "Phase of Solar Inverter" drop-down, but none of the documents we read makes phase a separate pass-or-fail test. Ask your sub-division what it checks. Gujarat's report also records the last year's maximum demand.

Feasibility comes before installation. The connection agreement, the meter, any electrical inspector sign-off (see our guide to when you need the Electrical Inspector and the CEI glossary entry) and commissioning usually come after. Gujarat is an exception: its table puts inspector approval of the drawings before the DISCOM application. For the full sequence see the DISCOM approval process guide, and for the filing steps see how to apply for net metering.

The national rule: what changed on 22 February 2024

The Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2024 (G.S.R. 125(E), 22 February 2024) rewrote the feasibility rule for rooftop solar. We read the Gazette text itself, published in the Gazette of India, and the PIB release of 23 February 2024. The numbers below are rule 11 of the principal Rules.

Sources: Gazette G.S.R. 125(E), 22 Feb 2024; Gazette G.S.R. 818(E), 31 Dec 2020. The 2021 to 2023 amendments leave these sub-rules unchanged.

Three details decide whether the clock helps you. The Rules define "days" as "clear working days" (Rights of Consumers Rules, 2020, rule 2(g)), unchanged in 2024. The clock runs from the acknowledgement with a registration number, not from the day your rep finished the form. And the deemed rule covers only an application "complete in all respects", so a missing item stops the clock before it starts.

What "deemed" does and does not mean

Deemed acceptance removes a study. It does not remove the work around it, and your DISCOM's system may lag the rule.

The scheme guideline says the same thing in plain words. MNRE's PM Surya Ghar CFA guidelines, clause 6(h), repeat the 10 kW rule and add: "Till the operationalization of this provision by respective Regulatory Commissions/DISCOMs, the consumer shall upload the necessary documents for seeking feasibility approval, wherever required as per extant state regulations." So the rule exists nationally, but each state and DISCOM has to switch it on in its systems.

The Clock-Cap-Ladder check for an application stuck at feasibility

An application can be stuck for three different reasons, each with a different fix. The Clock-Cap-Ladder check asks about them in order: Clock, then Cap, then Ladder. It takes five minutes per application.

1. 1

   Clock: which timer applies, and when did it start?

   Work out the route (deemed up to 10 kW, a study above 10 kW, or your state's own table). Take the acknowledgement date as day zero and count clear working days. If the clock has not run out, note the due date and wait. If it has, check the Cap, then climb.

2. 2

   Cap: is it the clock, or the transformer?

   A slow file and a full transformer look the same from outside. Ask the sub-division: how much rooftop capacity is already sanctioned on this customer's transformer, and what is the limit? If there is no room, waiting does not help (see the Cap list below).

3. 3

   Ladder: which rung comes next?

   Start at the lowest rung not yet tried (contact, written reminder, portal grievance, grievance forum, Ombudsman, compensation claim) and write down the date and name each time.

Where teams lose weeks is step 2: they chase the clock when the real problem is the cap, or they escalate when the clock has not expired. The three cells (route and due date, headroom answer, rung and date) become columns in the tracking table near the end.

How feasibility shows on the PM Surya Ghar portal

On the national portal, feasibility is stage 3 of ten. In MNRE's installer manual of 29 June 2024, the tracker on each vendor application card reads: 1 Consumer Registered, 2 Application Submission, 3 Feasibility Approval, 4 Vendor Selection, 5 Work Start, 6 Solar Installation Details, 7 Inspection, 8 Project Commissioning, 9 Subsidy Request, 10 Subsidy Disbursal. One screenshot in the same manual labels stage 3 "Feasibility Waived-off" instead. Our vendor login and dashboard guide walks through the whole tracker.

On the application page, the Application Details block shows Sanctioned Load, Proposal Capacity and Existing Installed Capacity. The Installation Details block has "Feasibility Approved by" (the sample reads "Approved with Applied Capacity"), "Applied Capacity", "Lower Capacity" and "Remarks", and the Documents block has a "Feasibility Documents" link. On the consumer side, the master manual of 29 July 2024 shows a downloadable "Feasibility Letter" and a "Track Details" button for "comments received from DisCom".

Sources: MNRE Installer Manual, 29 June 2024; MNRE Master Manual, 29 July 2024. Live portal not accessible to us.

Who owns the timer? The CFA guidelines, clause 13(b), make the DISCOM the State Implementation Agency, which "shall ensure adherence to timelines specified for provisioning of services for prosumers". They do not restate the days. Clause 8(a)(i) says the portal "will be fully integrated" with state DISCOM portals, which reads as a plan. MSEDCL's procedure, for example, describes its own application on its own site, so ask your sub-division whether a second entry is needed.

Three states, three procedures

The national rule sets the floor, and each State Commission and DISCOM fills in the rest. The table compares three jurisdictions using their own documents. Each cell names its jurisdiction and its document date. Our state guides for MSEDCL, BESCOM and DGVCL give the full application steps, and the DISCOM list covers other states.

Sources: documents in the first row. KERC's site would not load, so Karnataka's regulation is read as quoted by BESCOM.

Karnataka goes further than the national floor, deeming applications feasible up to 150 kW, but its documents also state an 80% transformer limit and do not say how that limit is checked on an application that gets no report. Gujarat's table is the most specific on days, and the report content is a ready checklist for what your sub-division must look at.

Worked example: the same transformer in two states

An illustration with assumed numbers, built from two official examples: a 100 kVA transformer with 60 kW of rooftop solar already connected or approved, and a customer who wants 50 kW.

Illustrative. Sources: MSEDCL SoP (4 Apr 2022); BESCOM guidelines (5 Aug 2023).

What to submit so the clock starts

The clock starts only on a complete application, so the file matters more than the follow-up. Every DISCOM must display its "complete list of documents required" (rule 11(5)(b)(iv)), and that list is the final word. Use this as a pre-submission check on top of it.

1. 1

   Capacity within the sanctioned load

   Check the bill. If the customer wants more, ask how the DISCOM raises the load first. Up to 10 kW the national rule makes the DISCOM do it.

2. 2

   No dues on the account

   MSEDCL will not accept an application with arrears, and Gujarat's report includes a no-dues certificate. Clear dues before filing.

3. 3

   Site facts that are true

   Shadow-free area, connection voltage and the right consumer number. MSEDCL's portal fills the transformer code from billing data, so check it against the bill. A wrongly typed capacity is a printed reason for rejection.

4. 4

   The documents the portal and the DISCOM ask for

   On the national portal the customer uploads an electricity bill, and the guidelines say feasibility documents are needed "wherever required as per extant state regulations". Our site-visit documents list splits portal items from DISCOM items.

5. 5

   Drawings, where your state asks for them

   Gujarat's table puts Chief Electrical Inspector approval of the single line diagram, earthing diagram and wiring diagram (10 days) before the DISCOM application. Whether a small home system needs it is a question for the DISCOM.

6. 6

   A consent letter ready for a smaller size

   MSEDCL cuts the applied capacity on a consent letter. A letter signed at the survey saves a round trip if headroom is short.

Keep the acknowledgement slip or screenshot with the registration number. It is the proof of your day zero.

When feasibility is reduced or rejected: the Cap list

A reduced or rejected feasibility is usually a transformer problem, not a paperwork problem. The options below come from the official texts, and the right one depends on your state.

Sources: documents named in the last column.

When feasibility is late: the Ladder

If the clock has run out and the headroom is fine, climb. Each rung below has a basis in the official text. The customer is the consumer in law, so for rungs 4 to 6 get the customer's signed consent to act for them, and check who may file under your state's regulation.

Sources: Gazette G.S.R. 818(E) (rules 11 and 15); PM Surya Ghar CFA guidelines; Electricity Act, 2003, section 42(5) to (8). Filing windows and forms are set by each State Commission, so read your state's forum and Ombudsman regulation before rung 4.

The ₹500 rule has a catch: it covers delay "without any just cause", and rule 11(11) lets a DISCOM seek the Commission's approval for an overrun in specific cases. A full transformer is a reason a DISCOM can cite, which is why the Ladder comes after the Cap check.

Your feasibility tracking table

Keep one row per application and review every row weekly. The rows below are illustrative: names, dates and sizes are made up, and due dates use the national 15-day rule counted Monday to Friday with no holidays, so recount on your DISCOM's calendar.

Illustrative rows. Counting follows rule 2(g) of the Rights of Consumers Rules ('clear working days'); confirm with your DISCOM how it counts the first day and holidays.

Write the due date the day the acknowledgement arrives, record the Cap answer as a number and a date (not "enough"), and name the owner of each row.

How Quickest Solar CRM fits

The portal and your DISCOM's website are the official records. Your CRM is where your own team keeps the promises it made to the customer. Quickest Solar CRM has no link to the national portal or to any DISCOM system, so every status below is typed in by a person, whichever tool you use.

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

• Pipeline stages you can customise: add stages such as "Feasibility pending", "Feasibility reduced" and "Feasibility cleared" so every application sits in one visible column.
• Labels and follow-up reminders on the lead: label the route ("Deemed" or "Study") and the due date ("Due 24 Aug"), then set a reminder for your own nudge date.
• Activity log, also on several leads at once: log each call, letter and reference number on the lead. When a sub-division gives one answer for many customers, log it on all of those leads together, and filter leads by label to build the week's chase list.
• Team members with permissions, dashboard and team report: the weekly review of stuck applications happens in one place, and each person sees only what you allow.

If you want to see this set up with your own stages, book a demo.

What to do this week

1. List every application at feasibility. For each one, write the route, the acknowledgement date, the due date and the portal stage or DISCOM status.
2. Ask each sub-division one Cap question. How much rooftop capacity is already sanctioned on the customer's transformer, and what is the limit? Write down the number, the name and the date.
3. Send the first written reminder on any application past its due date, quoting rule 11(7) or 11(7A) and your state's clock, and log it with the date.

Frequently asked questions

What is feasibility clearance for rooftop solar?

It is the DISCOM's technical check that the customer's connection and the local network can take the proposed system, looking at sanctioned load, connection voltage and transformer headroom. Under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules as amended on 22 February 2024, a complete application up to 10 kW is deemed accepted without a study. Above 10 kW the DISCOM has 15 days to finish the study, or the proposal is presumed technically feasible.

Do I need feasibility clearance for a rooftop system up to 10 kW?

Under the national rules, no study is needed for a complete application up to 10 kW. MNRE's scheme guidelines add that until a state regulator or DISCOM puts this into practice, the consumer uploads feasibility documents wherever existing state rules require them. Check what your DISCOM and the portal actually ask for, and quote the Gazette rule if a study is demanded anyway.

How many days does a DISCOM have for feasibility above 10 kW?

Fifteen days, which the Rules define as clear working days, counted from the acknowledgement with a registration number. The earlier limit was 20 days. If the outcome is not told to the applicant in time, the proposal is presumed technically feasible. Your state regulator may set shorter clocks, as Gujarat's 2024 table does for individual steps.

What is the transformer limit for rooftop solar?

It depends on the state. MERC Regulation 5.2 in Maharashtra sets 70% of rated capacity, with more allowed after a load study. BESCOM's guideline of 5 August 2023 sets 80% for plants below 150 kW. Gujarat's 2024 amendment names no percentage. Check your own State Commission's current regulation, as several states have drafts under way.

What can I do if the DISCOM rejects feasibility because the transformer is full?

Ask for the reason and the figures in writing. Then choose from the official options: accept a lower capacity, stay in the queue (MSEDCL has a waiting-list option), ask for a load study where the regulation allows one, or ask for an upgrade, which rule 11(8) says the DISCOM or the consumer carries out.

Does the customer get compensation if the DISCOM delays feasibility?

Rule 11(12) of the Rights of Consumers Rules makes a DISCOM that delays without just cause liable to pay the consumer at least ₹500 for each day of default. The compensation is the consumer's, not the installer's, and a DISCOM may argue it had just cause, such as a full transformer. Keep dated letters showing when the due date passed.

Where do I complain if the DISCOM does not respond?

Go up in order: the sub-division's single point of contact, a written reminder quoting the rule, the PM Surya Ghar portal grievance route (30 days per the guidelines), the DISCOM's consumer grievance forum (rule 15: normally 30 days, not beyond 45), then the Ombudsman under section 42(6) of the Electricity Act, 2003. Each State Commission sets its own filing rules.

What does Feasibility Waived-off mean on the PM Surya Ghar portal?

MNRE's installer manual of 29 June 2024 shows stage 3 labelled Feasibility Waived-off in one screenshot, and neither manual defines the term. It fits the deemed rule for systems up to 10 kW, but confirm by opening the application, reading the Feasibility Approved by and Remarks fields, and downloading the Feasibility Letter if the portal shows one.