Connectivity agreement
A connectivity agreement is the contract that lets a power plant or a large consumer physically connect to India's inter-state transmission system. It is signed with the nodal agency after connectivity is granted, and it fixes the substation bay allocated, the start date of connectivity and the technical data the connection rests on.
For the inter-state grid it is governed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Connectivity and General Network Access to the inter-State Transmission System) Regulations, 2022, published in the Gazette of India on 7 June 2022. Most of the regulations came into operation on 15 October 2022. They define connectivity as the state of getting connected to the inter-state transmission system.
Under regulation 10, an entity given final grant of connectivity sends its technical connection data, the nodal agency replies with connection details such as protection and communication equipment, and the agreement is signed within 30 days of that reply. Signing it makes the entity a connectivity grantee.
Connectivity is not the right to move power. Open access to the inter-state network is general network access, which the same regulations grant separately. Connections inside a state follow that state's regulations.