Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for Assistance to MSMEs: Assistance for Power Connection Charges

What is the Assistance for Power Connection Charges scheme?

Assistance for Power Connection Charges is a component of the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme for Assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, notified by the Industries and Mines Department through Government Resolution No. MIS-102022-1271(1)-I(CH) dated 5 October 2022. The draft guideline published by the Industries Commissionerate fixes the operative period as 5 October 2022 to 4 October 2027.

The component addresses a specific and expensive problem. A micro or small manufacturing unit set up outside a GIDC estate has no ready industrial power infrastructure at its gate. Getting a low-tension or high-tension service line drawn from the distribution company means paying the DISCOM for poles, conductors, a transformer arrangement and the connection work, a bill that regularly runs into lakhs before a single machine turns. According to the guideline, the State reimburses 35% of the charges paid to the distribution licensee for the LT or HT service line, subject to a maximum of Rs 5,00,000 during the policy period.

The scheme is deliberately narrow in one respect. It applies only to enterprises located other than in GIDC estates or approved industrial parks, on the reasoning that units inside a developed estate already receive the infrastructure their plot rent pays for. It is generous in another: for an additional load claim, the enterprise does not have to satisfy the usual expansion test on plant and machinery.

What the assistance covers

• Charges paid for a new power connection.
• Charges paid for additional load where an existing consumer expands.
• Charges paid for shifting a connection or a service line.

What it does not cover

• Refundable deposits paid to the distribution licensee.
• Internal wiring, in-plant electricals and equipment bought from private vendors rather than charges paid to the licensee.
• Anything paid in cash, the guideline requires cheque, demand draft or electronic payment.

The distribution licensees in Gujarat are DGVCL, MGVCL, PGVCL and UGVCL under Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, along with Torrent Power in its licensed areas. Charges paid to any of them for the service line are what the claim is built on.

Who is eligible for power connection charges assistance?

An enterprise can claim if:

• It is classified as a micro, small or medium enterprise under Para 1 of the Government Resolution dated 5 October 2022, which is based on investment in plant and machinery.
• It holds an acknowledgement or registration from the Ministry of MSME or DPIIT, as the case may be.
• It is a manufacturing enterprise.
• It is located outside a GIDC estate and outside an approved industrial park.
• It has actually paid charges to a power distribution company for a new connection, for additional load on expansion, or for shifting a connection or service line.
• The payment was made by cheque, demand draft or electronic transfer, and is supported by DISCOM receipts.
• It files within one year of the date of payment.

Who cannot apply, or is not eligible:

• Individuals and households. This is an industrial incentive to a registered enterprise, not a subsidy on a domestic or agricultural electricity connection.
• Enterprises inside a GIDC estate or an approved industrial park. Location is the first thing verified, and it disqualifies more applicants than any other condition.
• Trading and service activities, both expressly excluded.
• Claims consisting of refundable deposits.
• Claims paid in cash, which the guideline says will not be considered.
• Enterprises filing more than one year after paying the DISCOM.
• Enterprises that have already drawn the Rs 5,00,000 ceiling or used their three applications during the operative period.
• Enterprises that both paid the charges and commenced commercial production before 5 October 2022, those cases fall under the earlier scheme.

What documents are required?

How to apply for assistance for power connection charges

1. Pay the distribution licensee first. Assistance is a reimbursement, and the date of payment starts the one-year clock. Pay by cheque, demand draft or electronic transfer, never in cash.
2. Collect the DISCOM papers — the demand note, the sanction of the new connection or additional load, and the receipts for every amount paid. Keep the refundable deposit separate in your working, because it will be removed from the claim.
3. Prepare the self-certified expenditure statement supported by those receipts, and get a chartered accountant certificate of fixed capital investment for the classification test.
4. Register or sign in on the Investor Facilitation Portal at ifp.gujarat.gov.in using New Investor Registration and the confirmation email.
5. File the incentive application for the power connection charges component, upload the Udyam registration, DISCOM receipts, expenditure statement, payment proof, CA certificate and bank details, and submit within one year of payment.
6. Deliver the hard copy at your District Industries Centre. The guideline directs enterprises to file the hard copy at the concerned DIC, and to file offline at the DIC until the online module is made live.
7. Answer the DIC's queries and attend any site verification, then track the file until sanction and credit.

How is the claim assessed and paid?

Applications under this component are sanctioned and disbursed by the concerned District Industries Centre. The verifying officer confirms the unit's location outside a GIDC estate or approved industrial park, matches every receipt with the DISCOM demand note, removes refundable deposits from the eligible amount, checks that payment was not made in cash, and confirms that the application is within one year of payment. The balance is then reimbursed at 35%, capped at the unused part of the Rs 5,00,000 ceiling.

Three transition rules in the guideline decide which scheme a case belongs to. Payment and commercial production both before 5 October 2022 puts the case under the previous scheme. Commercial production before that date with payment after it puts the case under this scheme. An enterprise that commenced commercial production after 5 October 2022 may exercise the option in Para 7 of the Government Resolution.

How do you check the status of your application?

1. Sign in to ifp.gujarat.gov.in with the credentials used at the time of filing.
2. Open the incentive dashboard and search by application number.
3. Read the stage; submitted, under scrutiny, query raised, sanctioned or disbursed.
4. Follow up at the District Industries Centre that received the hard copy, quoting the acknowledgement, and escalate to the Industries Commissionerate if the file does not move.

Why power connection claims get rejected

• Unit inside a GIDC estate or an approved industrial park, which is outside the scheme entirely.
• Refundable deposit included in the claimed amount.
• Cash payment to the distribution company, which the guideline refuses to consider.
• Application filed after one year from the date of payment.
• Receipts in another entity's name, typically the promoter's personal name rather than the enterprise's.
• Trading or service activity found at verification.
• Ceiling exhausted by earlier applications, or a fourth application filed.

Where to get help

• District Industries Centre of your district. This is the sanctioning office for the component and the first place to ask about a pending file.
• Industries and MSME Commissionerate, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017 to +91 79 23252619, +91 79 23252689.
• Investor Facilitation Portal helpdesk at ifp.gujarat.gov.in/DIGIGOV/IFP-pages/contact.jsp for registration and upload problems.
• ic.gujarat.gov.in carries the Government Resolution of 5 October 2022, the draft guideline for this component, the application form and the checklist.

There is no fee to apply, and no agent is required. The scheme is often referred to in transliterated form as the "Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Yojana" power connection assistance.