A housing society wants one terrace plant, with the credit split across 40 flats and the common meter. A manufacturer has three units in one DISCOM area and roof space at only one of them. Ordinary net metering fits neither case, because it nets generation against a single connection.
Virtual and group net metering are the two arrangements that fix this. Whether you can offer them depends on the state commission. The states differ on who qualifies, how large the plant can be, where the meters sit and what the grid charges.
This guide is for the Indian EPC founder or design head who must answer the client before the single-line diagram (SLD) is drawn. We read the regulator’s own text behind every row in the tables. Where we could not open a primary text, we left the state out.
Quick answer. Group net metering lets one consumer offset several of its own connections from one plant. Virtual net metering shares one plant across several consumers by an agreed ratio. The central Rights of Consumers Rules define neither, so each state commission decides. We read notified texts for Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Odisha and Jharkhand. Gujarat has policy language only.
What are virtual and group net metering, and do the central rules define them?
The two terms are defined by state regulators, not by the central Rules. The Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 set up the prosumer and net metering concepts. The consolidated copy we read, from a legal database, has no definition of virtual or group net metering.
What the Rules do say sits in Rule 11(4), as amended by the Amendment Rules of 28 June 2021. Net metering, gross metering, net billing and net feed-in arrangements follow the regulations of the State Commission. We could not reach the Gazette PDF of the amendments. We read Rule 11(4) as quoted in full by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in its Statement of Reasons for its 2024 amendment.
The state wording follows a common template. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) set it in 2019, and Odisha, Jharkhand and Rajasthan copy it closely. The Odisha order of 5 May 2022 records a letter from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) dated 30 January 2022. It asked all commissions to consider similar guidelines.
| Group net metering (GNM) | Virtual net metering (VNM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who benefits | One consumer with several connections | Several participating consumers |
| What is credited | Surplus after the host connection’s own use | All energy the plant exports |
| Export meter | Net meter at the plant’s connection | Generation (renewable energy) meter |
| Allocation rule | Priority list set by the consumer | Sharing ratio set by the participants |
The definitions in the table come from the DERC Guidelines, 2019, guideline 2. Every other state text we read keeps the same split with its own conditions.
MNRE also recognises both arrangements for subsidy. Its Office Memorandum of 7 June 2024 (No. 318/17/2024-Grid Connected Rooftop) makes group and virtual installations eligible for central financial assistance. They must sit on a roof, terrace, balcony or elevated structure, or be building-integrated. The DISCOM must approve the metering arrangement. The same memorandum limits assistance for a housing society or residents’ association to common facilities, up to 500 kWp at 3 kWp per house. It also says the society connection should serve only common facilities. It does not explain how that rule meets a virtual plant that credits individual flats. Confirm the position with the DISCOM before you price a subsidy.
Which states have notified virtual net metering in India, and which group net metering?
Seven commissions have a notified instrument that we read in full, except for part of the Maharashtra row, which we read as reproduced by the regulator. Each row gives the order number and date.
| State | Instrument | Number and date | Mechanisms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | DERC (Group Net Metering and Virtual Net Metering for Renewable Energy) Guidelines, 2019, with seven amendments | F9(182)/DERC/DS/2016-17/484, 31 May 2019. Latest read: Seventh Amendment, F.17(44)/Engg./DERC/2023-24/8071, 20 January 2026. Fifth Amendment 15 March 2024 | GNM and VNM |
| Maharashtra | MERC Grid Interactive Rooftop Renewable Energy Generating Systems Regulations, 2019, First and Second Amendments | First Amendment, notified 16 November 2023 (GNM). Second Amendment, No. MERC/Tech/Regulation/0537, 29 August 2024 (VNM) | GNM and VNM |
| Karnataka | KERC (Grid Interactive Distributed Solar PV (DSPV) Plants) Regulations, 2026 | KERC/F-34/V-38/2026-27/2395, 19 August 2026, Gazette of 24 August 2026 | GNM and VNM |
| Kerala | KSERC (Renewable Energy and Related Matters) Regulations, 2025 | No. 3228/Con.Engg/2023/KSERC, 5 November 2025, Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No. 3944 of 6 November 2025 | GNM and VNM |
| Rajasthan | RERC (Grid Interactive Distributed Renewable Energy Generating Systems) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2025 | No. RERC/Secy./Reg./159, 13 October 2025, printed in the Rajasthan Gazette Extraordinary of 3 December 2025 | GNM and VNM |
| Odisha | OERC order on net metering, amended | No. OERC-Engg. 02/2022/468, 5 May 2022 | GNM and VNM |
| Jharkhand | JSERC (Group Net Metering and Virtual Net Metering) Regulations, 2024 | Notification No. 100, Jharkhand Gazette Extraordinary No. 257, 9 May 2024 | GNM and VNM |
Three notes sit under the table.
- Maharashtra. We read the Second Amendment in the Maharashtra Gazette text. For group net metering we read the clauses as reproduced in MERC’s Statement of Reasons dated 16 November 2023, not in the Gazette itself.
- Karnataka. The 2026 regulations repeal the 2016 solar rooftop regulations. The preamble says a KERC order of 9 July 2025 had already introduced both mechanisms. We read the Gazette text hosted by BESCOM.
- Rajasthan. The official commission website was unreachable from our systems. We read the Gazette text from a copy hosted by the Renewable Energy Association of Rajasthan.
Other states are not in the table. Our DISCOM net metering changes tracker lists Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as draft only. Telangana, Punjab and other commissions may have notified rules, but we could not open a primary text, so we do not table them. Check each commission’s regulations page before you quote.
Gujarat has no row. The Gujarat Integrated Renewable Energy Policy 2025, clause 8.2.2, says the state government may facilitate group and virtual net metering. We searched the GERC net metering regulations as consolidated to January 2020, and the Fourth Amendment of September 2024, for both terms and found none. Our Gujarat solar policy guide covers the policy itself.
Who can use it, and how large can the plant be?
Eligibility is the sharpest difference between states. A factory with several units qualifies for virtual net metering in some states and not in others.
| State | Group net metering | Virtual net metering | Plant size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | All consumers (guideline 3(1)) | All consumers, including single point of supply (Seventh Amendment, 2026). The 2019 text had listed residential, group housing, government offices and farm generators | Ground-mounted: up to 5 times the participants’ sanctioned load, maximum 10 MW. No cap for rooftop (Fifth Amendment) |
| Maharashtra | Same consumer, same or different premises | Residential consumers in a multi-storey building, including a housing society or apartment owners association and its common connection. Other categories use net metering, group net metering or green open access | VNM total not above the sum of capacity eligible to each participant. Eligible capacity under net metering is 5 MW or contract demand or sanctioned load, whichever is lower, counted on AC output |
| Karnataka | All categories, but the connections must have the same name and category | Domestic including apartments, group housing societies, charitable institutions, government and municipal bodies and schools. Participants must share one category | Minimum 5 kW. Maximum the combined sanctioned load or contract demand of the participating connections |
| Kerala | Any consumer eligible for net metering, at single or multiple premises | Domestic consumers in multi-storey or residential complexes with storage of at least 20% of generation potential, low-income groups sponsored by local bodies, government and local body offices, small MSMEs with storage, and agricultural consumers | VNM minimum 10 kW. Maximum the lowest of 1,000 kW, cumulative connected load and cumulative shares. A residential share is at most 10 kW |
| Rajasthan | All categories | All categories | More than 1 kW and up to 1 MW, within 100% of the participants’ cumulative sanctioned load or contract demand |
| Odisha | Same consumer | Domestic and specified public purpose consumers, and government or local authority offices | 5 kW to 500 kW |
| Jharkhand | All eligible consumers | All eligible consumers | No size band in the regulation text |
Several conditions sit outside the table.
- Arrears. Rajasthan and Jharkhand exclude consumers with pending arrears. Rajasthan allows a disputed amount to be deposited under section 56 of the Electricity Act instead.
- Existing connections. In Rajasthan, a net metering consumer must end the existing connection agreement before moving to group or virtual net metering. A consumer on net billing is not eligible.
- Third-party plants. Rajasthan allows a renewable energy service company (RESCO) or a utility-led aggregator to own the plant. Kerala lets the lead person set up a virtual plant directly or through a RESCO. Jharkhand lets a third-party owner build the plant but has the eligible consumer sign the agreement for net metering.
- Above 1 MW in Rajasthan. Larger plants fall under the commission’s renewable tariff regulations and green energy open access. A consumer with contract demand from 100 kW to 1 MW can choose either route.
How does the metering arrangement change?
Both arrangements add a generation point that the DISCOM can read separately. The difference is where that point sits and who installs it.
| State | What the text requires |
|---|---|
| Delhi | The DISCOM installs renewable energy meters at the generation points, with remote reading. The consumer pays the differential cost of the new net meter (guideline 7) |
| Maharashtra | A virtual plant gets an additional check meter for the generation meter, installed by the DISCOM (regulation 8.11). The export can go through a generation meter or a net meter. The commission accepted that one existing society connection can act as the net-metering connection |
| Karnataka | Group net metering interconnects on the consumer side of the bidirectional meter. Virtual net metering interconnects at the generation meter. Smart meters are mandatory at generation and at participating connections, at the consumer’s cost (regulations 10.2 to 10.6) |
| Kerala | A renewable generation meter sits at the interconnection point for both. A virtual plant above 100 kW needs an extra check meter. Meter class depends on size: ABT-compatible above 1 MW, smart meters from 100 kW, and smart meters for smaller plants installed on or after 1 April 2027 (regulations 15.3 and 31.3) |
| Rajasthan | Meters follow the CEA (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations, 2006. An HT consumer on group net metering may connect the plant at its LT bus bar, with the net meter on the HT side of its transformer (regulation 12.6(A).6) |
| Jharkhand | Renewable energy meters at the generation points, with remote reading. The consumer pays for the net meter (regulation 8) |
Odisha’s 2022 amendment adds definitions, eligibility and size only. It has no mechanism-specific metering clause.
Two design choices follow from the table. First, decide whether the plant gets its own connection or uses a host connection. Kerala requires the lead person of a virtual plant to obtain separate connectivity and to pay the connectivity cost, including transformer upgrades. Second, state the meter class on the SLD. A smart-meter requirement changes the BOQ and the meter-room layout.
How are credits shared and settled?
Group net metering uses a priority list. The surplus first offsets the host connection, then flows down the list. Virtual net metering uses a percentage ratio that every participant agrees in writing. The texts differ on when the split can change and what happens to leftover units.
| State | How credit is split | When the split can change | Surplus and year end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | GNM: priority list starting at the host connection. VNM: ratio in the agreement or MoU | GNM list once a financial year, two months notice. VNM share or new connections twice a financial year (Seventh Amendment) | Credits carry forward within the settlement period. Guideline 10 points to the 2014 net metering guidelines for the year-end rate, which we did not read. A disconnected VNM participant’s credit is paid at year end |
| Maharashtra | GNM: priority list with sharing ratio. VNM: ratio in the net metering agreement, signed through a Lead Person | Once a financial year, two months notice, through the Lead Person for VNM | Credits carry forward. Unadjusted units at year end are bought at the generic tariff (regulation 11.4(c) of the 2019 regulations). A participant’s ratio cannot exceed its eligible capacity |
| Karnataka | GNM: priority list from the host. VNM: ratio in the VNM agreement | Once at the start of the financial year, two months notice | Monthly purchase of surplus at 75% of the generic DSPV tariff. The GNM host connection must use at least 20% of generation or the gap lapses. A disconnected VNM participant’s credits lapse |
| Kerala | GNM: priority list with capacity share per connection. VNM: sharing ratio and shared kW in the connectivity agreement | Once a financial year, two months notice | Time-zone adjustment, then banking with normalisation factors. VNM banked units lose 2% a month. Year-end balance is monetised at the commission’s rate, stated as ₹2.79 per kWh for solar, and paid before 30 April. VNM also carries a grid support charge of 50 paise per kWh for the first 300 units a month and ₹1 above that, except for low-income and agricultural participants |
| Rajasthan | GNM: priority list from the host. VNM: ratio in an MoU on stamp paper | Once at the start of the financial year, two months notice | Excess over a participant’s imports is bought by the DISCOM at the rate in the principal regulations (regulation 12.6.1(a), not read). A disconnected connection’s credit is paid at year end after pending dues |
| Jharkhand | GNM: priority list with share ratio. VNM: ratio in the agreement or MoU | Once a financial year, two months notice | Unadjusted credit at the end of the settlement year is paid at the rate in the DISCOM’s latest tariff order, then reset to zero |
The surplus rules decide whether to oversize. In Karnataka, surplus earns 75% of the generic tariff each month, so unused credit is cheap. In Maharashtra, carry-forward protects the ratio until year end. The energy banking glossary entry explains the carry-forward concept these texts rely on.
Does plant location change what the grid charges?
Yes, and this is the number most proposals miss. A virtual or group plant moves energy through the DISCOM’s network. Several commissions charge for that, unless the plant and the loads share a transformer or feeder.
| State | Network charges under GNM and VNM |
|---|---|
| Delhi | Exempt from wheeling, banking, cross subsidy surcharge and other charges when commissioned by 31 March 2027. For commissioning by 31 March 2030, 25% of those charges apply, rising in steps (Fifth Amendment, guideline 13) |
| Maharashtra | No wheeling charges or losses on group net metering, and no open access charges or losses on virtual net metering, until installed rooftop solar in Maharashtra reaches 5,000 MW |
| Karnataka | Both are treated as an alternative to open access, so open access charges apply. They are exempt when generation and consumption sit within the same distribution transformer or 11 kV feeder |
| Kerala | VNM: none on the same transformer. Different transformers in one electrical division: wheeling charges and distribution losses. Elsewhere: transmission charges and losses as well. GNM: wheeling charges and distribution losses, plus transmission above 100 kW. No cross subsidy surcharge on either |
| Rajasthan | Domestic: exempt from banking, transmission, wheeling, cross subsidy and additional surcharges. Other categories on their own premises: the same exemptions. A plant elsewhere pays wheeling charges and losses at the voltage level. A RESCO-owned plant for a non-domestic consumer pays 50% of the cross subsidy and additional surcharges |
| Jharkhand | Exempt from wheeling, banking, cross subsidy and other charges, as decided by the commission by order after a prudence check, citing clause 8.2.5 of the Jharkhand Solar Policy 2022 |
For the design file, this turns site selection into a network question. Find the transformer of every participant before you fix the plant location. The same transformer headroom limits apply to the plant itself. Rajasthan states that the group plant is subject to the distribution transformer capacity already used. Our transformer feasibility guide shows how each state counts that headroom.
Worked example: a 60 kW society plant under Maharashtra virtual net metering
This example is illustrative. The inputs are assumptions, not data from a project, and the tariff is not a MERC figure.
Assumptions.
- A housing society with 40 flats and one common connection, in one MSEDCL area.
- A 60 kW AC rooftop plant under the 2024 virtual net metering clauses. Each flat has a 4 kW sanctioned load and the common connection has 30 kW.
- Yield of 1,500 kWh per kW per year, so 90,000 kWh a year.
- A blended energy rate of ₹8 per kWh for every participant.
- A year-end rate of ₹3 per kWh for leftover credit. This is an assumption for the example, not the generic tariff.
- The flats each import more than 1,350 kWh a year, so their shares are always fully used.
Step 1: check the size. The eligible capacity adds up to 40 times 4 kW plus 30 kW, which is 190 kW. A 60 kW plant is inside the limit, counted on AC output as MERC clarifies. Each share must also fit its own connection. The ratio in step 2 does: 24 kW for the common connection and 0.9 kW for each flat.
Step 2: set the ratio. The society gives the common connection 40% and each flat 1.5%, since 60% divided by 40 flats is 1.5%.
| Participant | Share | Energy (kWh a year) | Credit at ₹8 per kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common connection | 40% | 36,000 | ₹2.88 lakh |
| One flat | 1.5% | 1,350 | ₹10,800 |
| All 40 flats | 60% | 54,000 | ₹4.32 lakh |
| Total | 100% | 90,000 | ₹7.20 lakh |
Step 3: test the ratio against real consumption. Suppose the common connection actually imports only 30,000 kWh a year. Its share of 36,000 kWh leaves 6,000 kWh of credit unused. The Maharashtra clauses carry credit forward and settle year-end leftovers at the generic tariff. At the assumed ₹3, the 6,000 kWh pays ₹18,000. Allocated to flats that import more than their share, the same units would have offset ₹48,000 of bills at ₹8. The loss is ₹30,000, or 0.30 lakh.
The fix is a ratio closer to real consumption. The regulation lets participants change the ratio once in a financial year with two months notice, through the Lead Person. A wrong ratio therefore costs a full year. Ask the society for twelve months of meter data before you fix the split. The ratio belongs on the drawing set as a schedule, not as a late edit.
What changes in the drawings and the approval file?
The array and inverter design do not change. The metering, the participant schedule and the approval route do. If your team prepares the electrical drawings, our electrical CEIG drawings service covers the SLD, cable layout, earthing layout and approval set for net metering projects. Tell us the state and the participating connections when you ask for scope.
Use this checklist for a shared plant.
- Name the instrument. Put the state order or regulation number on the application cover note. Reviewers then see which text you are working from.
- Draw the metering point. Show whether the plant exports through its own generation meter on a new connection or through a host net meter. Add the check meter where the state requires one.
- Add a participant schedule. List each connection with consumer number, category, sanctioned load, share in percent and share in kW. In Maharashtra and Kerala this schedule mirrors a table in the agreement.
- Test each share against its limit. In Maharashtra a share cannot exceed the capacity eligible to that consumer. In Kerala a residential share is capped at 10 kW or the connected load.
- Check the transformer. Confirm headroom at the plant’s connection point. Check every participant’s transformer too if charges depend on location.
- Fix the meter class. Karnataka and Kerala ask for smart meters. Put the meter specification on the BOQ.
- Plan the paperwork. Rajasthan sets 15 days for feasibility on existing connections and 30 days for new ones, then 30 days for connectivity. Jharkhand sets 7 working days for feasibility, 30 days to sign the agreement, and six months to install. Rajasthan wants the sharing ratio on stamp paper.
- Settle the inspection route. Whether the plant needs a CEIG inspection or owner self-certification is a state notification question. Our CEIG drawing approval guide and CEIG inspection checklist cover both routes.
DISCOM feasibility is project-specific. Nothing here says a DISCOM will accept a given design, so confirm each requirement with the licensee.
What if the state has no virtual or group net metering rule?
You still have routes, and each has a cost. The right one depends on the client’s load and the state.
- Net metering at one site. Credit stays with the connection that hosts the plant. The other sites get nothing.
- Behind-the-meter plant. Karnataka lists it as a separate mechanism for all categories, up to sanctioned load. Where the DISCOM wants no export, see our zero export design guide.
- Open access. In 2023 Maharashtra’s commission declined virtual net metering and called it akin to third-party or captive open access. It told those consumers to use green open access. It enabled virtual net metering for residential multi-storey consumers in 2024.
- Wait for the commission. A draft regulation is not a right. Do not quote a draft rule.
For the standard single-connection route, our DISCOM net metering process guide walks through the application.
FAQ
Is virtual net metering allowed in Gujarat?
Not under any GERC text we read. The state policy of 2025, clause 8.2.2, says the government may facilitate it. Treat it as unavailable until GERC notifies a regulation.
Can a housing society use group net metering?
Group net metering needs one consumer with several connections. Flats are separate consumers, so a society normally uses virtual net metering. A society that is itself the consumer for several connections can use group net metering where the state allows it.
Can a factory with several units use virtual net metering?
It depends on the state. Delhi opened virtual net metering to all consumers in January 2026, and Rajasthan allows all categories. Maharashtra restricts it to residential multi-storey consumers and Karnataka lists specific categories, so a factory there would use group net metering.
Do unused credits expire?
It depends on the state. Karnataka buys surplus monthly at 75% of the generic tariff, and Kerala banks it with a 2% monthly deduction. Maharashtra carries it forward to year end, and Jharkhand resets it to zero each year after paying the surplus. Read the settlement clause before you size.
Does PM Surya Ghar subsidy apply to a shared plant?
MNRE’s memorandum of 7 June 2024 makes group and virtual installations eligible. They must sit on a roof, terrace, balcony or elevated structure, and the DISCOM must approve the metering. Common-facility limits apply to societies. Check the current scheme terms with your DISCOM, as the scheme may change.
Next step
If a society or multi-site client is waiting on a design, send us the state, the participating connections and the sharing schedule. The electrical CEIG drawings team can scope the SLD and approval set, and turnaround is agreed at scoping. Contact us or message us on WhatsApp, and we reply within 1 business day. You can also see what a finished set looks like in our design samples.