Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for assistance to MSMEs: Assistance for Saving in Consumption of Energy and Water

What is the energy and water saving assistance for MSMEs in Gujarat?

Assistance for Saving in Consumption of Energy and Water is Scheme-10 of the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for assistance to MSMEs, issued by the Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, under Government Resolution No. MIS-102022-1271(1)-I(Ch) dated 5 October 2022. The umbrella scheme is operative for five years, from 5 October 2022 to 4 October 2027.

The component does two distinct things. It pays for the diagnosis, an energy or water audit by a recognised institution or consultant, and then it pays part of the cure, the equipment that audit recommends. Gujarat is home to over 8.5 lakh MSMEs according to the preamble of the same resolution, and utility cost is one of the few running costs a small manufacturer can genuinely reduce with a one-time investment.

What the Government Resolution provides

• 75% of the cost of the energy or water audit conducted by a recognised institution or consultant, subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000 for each, reimbursed once during the operative period of the scheme.
• 25% of the cost of equipment recommended by the auditing authority, subject to a maximum of Rs 20 lakh, as one-time assistance during the operative period.
• Equipment assistance is conditional on a saving in energy or water of at least 10% of the average monthly consumption of the previous 12 months before the audit.
• Where consumption rises because production has risen, the claim is examined separately by a committee constituted by the State Level supported Committee.

Enterprises that opted in under para 7.2 of the GR are also eligible for assistance towards expenditure incurred in this regard during the operative period of the previous scheme, up to the date of issue of this GR.

Who is eligible for the energy and water saving assistance?

An enterprise can claim if:

• It is a micro, small or medium enterprise as defined in the GR, fixed capital investment in plant and machinery of up to Rs 1 crore for micro, more than Rs 1 crore and up to Rs 10 crore for small, and more than Rs 10 crore and up to Rs 50 crore for medium.
• It holds acknowledgement or registration from the Ministry of MSME or DPIIT, in practice a valid Udyam registration, or an IEM or LOI where applicable.
• It is a manufacturing enterprise. The undertaking in the official application form requires the applicant to confirm manufacturing activity.
• It is either an existing or a new enterprise. The GR opens this component to both, which is unusual, several other components are restricted to new units.
• It has had an energy or water audit conducted by a recognised institution or consultant and has implemented the recommendations.
• For equipment assistance, it can demonstrate at least a 10% saving against the average monthly consumption of the previous 12 months before the audit.

An enterprise is not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• It is a trading enterprise or a pure service enterprise with no manufacturing activity.
• The audit was done by someone not recognised as an institution or consultant for this purpose.
• The expenditure claimed is for renewal of a certificate, which the undertaking expressly excludes.
• The certification or measure is required as a statutory obligation. The undertaking records that the enterprise is not eligible where the certification referred to in the GR is required as part of a statutory provision.
• The claim would take total assistance from the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India above the actual expenditure incurred.
• The enterprise is availing incentive for the same investment under another State Government scheme, since the GR requires an enterprise to opt for one scheme.
• The investment is merely renovation, modernisation, rehabilitation or rationalisation by an existing MSME, which the GR's general conditions exclude from incentive.

What documents are required?

The checklist published by the MSME Commissionerate for this component is specific. The main items are:

How to apply for the energy and water saving assistance

1. Get an energy audit or water audit done by a recognised institution or consultant, and keep the fee receipt. Without this the component does not start.
2. Implement the recommendations in the audit report and buy the equipment the auditing authority recommends, keeping invoices and proof of payment.
3. Measure the saving. Compare consumption after implementation with the average monthly consumption of the previous 12 months before the audit, and assemble electricity or water bills as third-party evidence of at least a 10% reduction.
4. Download the application form and checklist for "Assistance for saving in consumption of Energy and Water" from the MSME Commissionerate site, msmec.gujarat.gov.in.
5. Fill the form and sign the undertaking, which commits you to the GR's conditions and to repayment if any condition is violated.
6. Attach the checklist documents in the order given, with page numbers, as the checklist's page-number column requires.
7. Submit to the District Industries Centre of the district where the unit is located, and file the online application through the Investor Facilitation Portal at ifp.gujarat.gov.in, which the MSME Commissionerate lists as the route to apply for incentive schemes.
8. Keep the acknowledgement and respond to DIC scrutiny queries, since the GM-DIC is the sanctioning and disbursing authority for this component.

How the two benefits differ in practice

The audit reimbursement is small, capped and easy: 75% of the audit fee up to Rs 50,000, for each of energy and water, once in the operative period. A Rs 60,000 energy audit therefore yields Rs 45,000, and a separate Rs 80,000 water audit yields the full Rs 50,000 ceiling.

The equipment assistance is larger and harder: 25% of the recommended equipment cost up to Rs 20 lakh, once, and only if the 10% saving test is met. An enterprise spending Rs 40 lakh on recommended equipment receives Rs 10 lakh; an enterprise spending Rs 1 crore still receives only the Rs 20 lakh ceiling. This is why the audit report matters so much; only equipment the auditing authority recommended counts towards the claim.

How to check your application status

1. Track the application on ifp.gujarat.gov.in using the login under which it was filed.
2. Quote the inward number on the DIC acknowledgement when you follow up in person.
3. Escalate to the General Manager, District Industries Centre, then to the MSME Commissioner, Gandhinagar, if scrutiny stalls.

Why claims get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Audit by an unrecognised consultant. Confirm the institution's recognition before commissioning the audit, not after.
• Saving not demonstrated. Twelve months of pre-audit bills are the baseline; start collecting them before the audit, not at claim time.
• Equipment not in the audit recommendation. Only equipment recommended by the auditing authority is eligible for the 25% assistance.
• Statutory measures claimed. Anything you were legally required to install anyway falls outside the scheme.
• Renewal expenditure claimed. Renewals of certificates are excluded by the undertaking you sign.
• Expenditure not traceable to the bank account. The checklist asks for a highlighted bank statement; unmatched cash payments create queries.
• Overlapping assistance not declared. Declare every GoG and GoI benefit for the same expenditure; the total cannot exceed what you actually spent.

Key dates and figures

• 5 October 2022, GR No. MIS-102022-1271(1)-I(Ch) issued; operative period begins.
• 4 October 2027 — operative period of the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for assistance to MSMEs ends.
• 75% / Rs 50,000: audit reimbursement rate and ceiling, for each of energy and water, once in the operative period.
• 25% / Rs 20 lakh; equipment assistance rate and ceiling, one time.
• 10%; minimum saving against the average monthly consumption of the previous 12 months before the audit.
• 18% per annum; recovery interest if a condition of the GR is breached; the amount is recoverable as an arrear of land revenue.

Gujarat announced the Viksit Gujarat Industrial Policy 2026, valid for five years from 1 June 2026. Component-level resolutions under the new policy were still being notified when this guide was fact-checked, so confirm the governing resolution on ic.gujarat.gov.in before filing a fresh claim.

Help and grievance redressal

• Office of the Industries Commissionerate, Block No. 1, 2nd Floor, Udyog Bhavan, Gandhinagar 382010 to 079-23252683, 079-23252617, iccord@gujarat.gov.in
• General Manager, District Industries Centre, sanctioning authority for this component
• MSME Commissioner, Gandhinagar, chairs the State Level supported Committee that monitors the MSME schemes
• MSME Gujarat portal, msmec.gujarat.gov.in, forms, checklists and the GR

Disputes about interpretation of the resolution go to the committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, whose decision the GR makes final.