What solar O&M actually costs per MW in India
EPCs quote ₹5–8 lakh/MW. The regulator and the market say otherwise.
O&M is where 25 years of returns are quietly protected or eroded — and where the published numbers are most inflated. Here is the sourced truth.
The number
GERC’s regulatory norm for Gujarat is ₹3 lakh/MW/year escalating at 3.84%; the competitive utility-scale market runs ₹2.5–4 lakh/MW/year. EPC marketing quotes of ₹5–8 lakh are the full-wrap retail figure, not the competitive cost. Over 25 years that gap is real money.
What it should include
Preventive and corrective maintenance, module cleaning (~24 cycles/yr in dusty Gujarat), thermography, 24/7 monitoring and an availability guarantee of 98–99%. Insurance and inverter end-of-life replacement are usually priced separately — don’t assume they’re in the O&M number.