Maharashtra

Maharashtra has some of the steepest home tariffs in India once you cross 100 units a month, which makes rooftop solar pay back quickly for most families. This page covers the subsidy, the SMART scheme for low-use homes and net metering with MSEDCL, then the open access fees that matter to businesses.

Rooftop solar for homes in Maharashtra

Who supplies your power

MSEDCL (Mahavitaran) supplies most of the state. In Mumbai, BEST supplies the island city, and Adani Electricity and Tata Power supply the suburbs. The steps below use MSEDCL; Mumbai utilities follow the same national portal with their own net metering desk.

Subsidy

Every home gets the central subsidy: ₹30,000 for 1 kW, ₹60,000 for 2 kW and ₹78,000 for 3 kW or more. See the PM Surya Ghar guide for the full rules.

The SMART scheme for low-use homes

Homes using under 100 units a month can get a 1 kW system almost free under the state’s SMART scheme. On a benchmark price of ₹50,000, the centre pays ₹30,000 and the state pays most of the rest.

Net metering

Homes keep net metering: solar units you export are set against the units you import. MERC’s tariff orders of 2025 and 2026 changed how solar units are adjusted by time of day for some categories, and parts went through the Bombay High Court. For homes, read the solar section on your latest bill, and ask MSEDCL how year-end surplus is paid before you size beyond your own use.

What you pay per unit

How much your roof makes

Using PVGIS data, a south-facing system in Maharashtra makes about 1,451 units per kW a year. The monsoon months of June to September make roughly half as much as January to March. See month-by-month units for this state.

Worked example: a Pune home using 300 units

The first 100 units cost ₹4.32 and the next 200 cost ₹9.40, with ₹1.20 wheeling on each unit. Before fixed charges and duty, that is about ₹2,670 a month for energy and wheeling alone.

A 3 kW system makes about 363 units a month, which covers the home’s use. The saving is about ₹32,000 a year, more once electricity duty is counted. After the ₹78,000 subsidy the system costs ₹1.52 to ₹1.62 lakh, so it pays back in about five years.

A home using 150 units gains much less, because most of its units sit in the cheap first slab. For that home a 1 or 1.5 kW system is the better buy.

Open access solar for businesses in Maharashtra

Businesses with a contracted load of 100 kW or more can buy solar from a plant elsewhere in the state through open access. What decides the real price is the set of grid fees below.

We haven’t prefilled Maharashtra’s fees because published sources disagree and key rules are before the courts.

Where sources disagree

One source puts the cross-subsidy surcharge for HT industry at ₹0.80–1.20/kWh; another puts it at ₹2.11/kWh for HT-1. Wheeling depends on the voltage you connect at.

Rulings to know

In April 2025 MERC barred MSEDCL from charging wheeling on open access power delivered only through the transmission network and ordered refunds with 18% interest. Banking restrictions are under Bombay High Court proceedings. Until these settle, use the figures on your own MSEDCL bill and the current MERC order.

Frequently asked questions