Power Cuts and DG Set Limits in 2026: What Idle Hours Cost NCR and Punjab Factories (₹)
A grid outage costs an NCR or Punjab plant in four ways at once. You pay a diesel premium on whatever the DG set carries, you lose margin on the lines it can't carry, you pay crews who stand idle, and you lose production while lines restart. In our worked example a two-hour cut costs a 250-worker plant about ₹50,000. If the DG set isn't compliant with CAQM's schedule, the same cut costs more than twice that. In NCR, whether your set is compliant decides more of the bill than the GRAP stage does.
By the Mama Editorial Team. Orders carry numbers and dates; rupee assumptions are labelled.
Key takeaways
- National averages hide your feeder. The Ministry of Power reports average urban supply of 23.4 hours a day in 2025. In April 2026, though, Punjab saw 8–10-hour outages in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Patiala.
- In NCR, the DG set rules are a schedule by capacity. CAQM Direction No. 76 (29.09.2023), as amended, decides which sets may run, and only as backup when grid supply fails. A compliant set of 19 kW and above can generally run even during GRAP. A non-compliant one may not run at any time.
- The September 2026 GRAP revision moved "actions related to DG Sets" from Stage II to Stage I (PIB, 29 Sep 2026; Direction No. 104).
- Diesel power costs about four to five times as much as grid power. At ₹95.20 a litre (Delhi, 13 Oct 2026) and BEE's field figure of about 0.33 litres per kWh, fuel alone comes to roughly ₹31 a unit. A Haryana 11 kV industrial unit costs ₹6.95.
- Restart losses are the hidden line. In Ludhiana's steel-heavy Industrial Area C, an MSME forum head says reheating after a cut takes 1–2 hours.
What the CAQM DG-set rules actually say (with dates)
- Direction No. 73, 02.06.2023: the first schedule for DG sets across all sectors in NCR.
- Direction No. 76, 29.09.2023: the revised schedule, superseding earlier orders, in force from 01.10.2023. Sets may run "only as a backup against regular power supply failures".
- Amendments dated 22.02.2024 and 11.12.2024, which moved the capacity bands down as retrofit devices became available.
- Standard Schedule of Environmental Compensation dated 01.01.2025: the penalties.
The table is the schedule after the 11.12.2024 amendment, as CAQM repeats it in the revised GRAP (Direction No. 104, 29.09.2026, Stage I, item 18).
| DG set (capacity / fuel) | What it must have | Use allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Any capacity on LPG, natural gas, biogas, propane or butane | Nothing extra | No restrictions, even during GRAP |
| Up to 800 kW (1,000 kVA) meeting MoEFCC GSR 804(E) of 03.11.2022 (the newer genset emission norms) | Nothing extra | No restrictions, even during GRAP |
| 800 kW (1,000 kVA) and above | Any emission control that meets the stack standards | No restrictions, even during GRAP |
| 41 kW (51 kVA) to under 800 kW | Dual-fuel mode or retrofitted emission control device (RECD) from a certified vendor | No restrictions, even during GRAP |
| 19 kW (23 kVA) to under 41 kW | Dual-fuel mode | No restrictions, even during GRAP. Sets not on dual fuel only because gas isn't available: emergency services only |
| Portable, below 19 kW (23 kVA) | No control means exist | Free outside GRAP; during GRAP, emergency services only |
CAQM's Standard Schedule of Environmental Compensation (order of 01.01.2025) charges, per DG set per day of violation, ₹7,500 for a 20–125 kW set, ₹15,000 for one above 125 kW and below 800 kW, and ₹25,000 for 800 kW and above. Under its note B, the rates double for violations found while GRAP restrictions are in force. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee's DG-set SOP of 03.06.2025 (Annexure I to DPCC's 2026 reply before the National Green Tribunal, pp. 11–14) cites a CAQM letter of 31.01.2025 making a DG log book mandatory: with no log or other record, compensation can be counted from 01.10.2023. It also provides for sealing the set. CAQM's clarification of 05.06.2025 asks boards to establish actual days of violation from evidence; the log is your evidence.
For an owner, the point is this. If your set is compliant, GRAP mostly doesn't restrict it. If it isn't, the schedule hasn't allowed it to run on any day since October 2023. In 2023 a Faridabad industry leader warned the ban could hit half the town's 30,000 units.
What changed in September 2026
On 28.09.2026 CAQM approved "moving actions related to DG Sets… from Stage-II to Stage-I" (PIB, 29 Sep 2026), issued as Direction No. 104 dated 29.09.2026, "with immediate effect". Stage I applies when Delhi's AQI is in the "Poor" band of 201–300, or is forecast to get there. Stage I now says "Ensure that diesel generator sets are not used as regular source of power supply" (item 17) and tells boards and district officials to "strictly implement" the Direction No. 76 schedule, with portable sets below 19 kW "not to be generally permitted" (item 18). For scale, Stage I was invoked on 16 Apr 2026, at an AQI of 226. DG enforcement now starts at "Poor" air, not "Very Poor".
Punjab is a different case. Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mandi Gobindgarh are outside NCR, so this DG schedule doesn't apply there. A Punjab plant's constraint is supply and diesel cost; its state board's consent conditions for gensets still apply.
How many hours are we talking about
Plant-level outage data is thin; treat these as direction, not a forecast for your feeder:
- National: average supply was 23.4 hours a day in urban areas and 22.6 in rural areas in 2025 (PIB, June 2025).
- Punjab, April 2026: PSPCL scheduled 8–10-hour cuts for line repairs and upgrades before the paddy season. In many parts of Ludhiana power was off from 9 am to 5 pm (ETV Bharat, 22 Apr 2026). The Tribune added unannounced cuts and production that "dropped drastically" (25 Apr 2026).
- Haryana NCR, July 2024: the NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Haryana chapter reported daily cuts "averaging six to eight hours" in Gurugram, Faridabad and Panipat. The utility said there was no deficit in industrial areas. Association figures, not metered data.
Your best data is your own: the mandatory DG log book set against your production record.
A worked ₹ example: one two-hour cut
The plant is hypothetical: a 250-worker auto-ancillary unit in Faridabad running presses, CNC and a paint line. It draws about 400 kW at full load. Its 320 kVA DG set is dual-fuel and compliant, carries about 250 kW, and runs the press shop and essentials. The CNC cell and paint line, about 40% of output, go dark during a cut.
Inputs (labelled): - Diesel: ₹95.20/litre, Delhi retail (IOC), 13 Oct 2026, per PPAC. Haryana's differs slightly (state VAT). - DG fuel use: 0.33 litres per kWh, within the 0.29–0.36 range in BEE's DG set monitoring table (Table 9.5). We ignore dual-fuel gas savings for simplicity. - Grid energy: ₹6.95/kVAh for 11 kV industrial supply in Haryana, as revised for 2025–26. HERC kept tariffs unchanged for 2026–27, according to a PTI report of 25 Mar 2026; we could not open the HERC order itself, so check your bill. We treat kVAh as roughly kWh, which assumes a power factor near 1. - Labour: the national ASI average factory wage was ₹563/day in 2021–22. We assume about ₹95 an hour once 2026 wages and statutory contributions are loaded on. Use your own state's current minimum-wage notification for your trades. - Margin at full output: assume ₹25,000 per hour across the plant, after materials, energy and direct wages, sold-out case. So idle wages are a separate loss, not a double count. - Restart: assume 30 minutes before the dark lines are back to rate after power returns, plus ₹2,000 of first-off scrap.
| Cost bucket (one 2-hour cut) | Working | ₹ |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel premium on what the DG carries | 250 kWh × 0.33 L × ₹95.20 = ₹7,854/hr, less the ₹1,738/hr you'd have paid the grid, × 2 h | ~12,200 |
| Lost margin on dark lines | 40% × ₹25,000 × 2 h | 20,000 |
| Idle crews on dark lines | 60 workers × ₹95 × 2 h | 11,400 |
| Restart: time to rate + first-off scrap | 0.5 h × ₹10,000 + ₹2,000 | 7,000 |
| Total, compliant DG | ~₹50,600 | |
| Same cut, DG cannot legally run | 100% margin ₹50,000 + 250 × ₹95 × 2 (₹47,500) + restart 0.5 h × ₹25,000 + ₹5,000 scrap | ~₹1,15,000 |
At six such cuts a month, the compliant plant loses about ₹3 lakh a month. The plant without a usable DG loses about ₹6.9 lakh. If it runs the non-compliant set anyway and gets caught, a 320 kVA set (about 256 kW) falls in the 125–800 kW band: ₹15,000 a day in environmental compensation, or ₹30,000 a day if found during GRAP, plus sealing.
Three things stand out. The diesel line everybody watches is less than a quarter of the bill. The restart line nobody records grows fast in heat-dependent processes (forging, induction melting, extrusion, moulding), where the Ludhiana MSME forum puts reheating at 1–2 hours. And the gap between the two totals is roughly what a retrofit or dual-fuel kit has to beat. CAQM itself recorded MSMEs' complaint in Direction No. 73 (02.06.2023). On abstract estimates, they reported that retrofitting both dual fuel and an emission control device "would almost be equal to the cost of a new DG set", particularly for smaller sets. Run that payback on your own figures. The DG downtime calculator does the per-cut part, and our guide to what one hour of downtime costs covers margin versus "we'll catch up".
Where owners lose more than they need to
- Wrong loads on the DG. The set carries lighting, compressors and the canteen while a bottleneck CNC cell goes dark. A one-time load study shows which lines earn most margin per kW; they go on the DG first. BEE's chapter also advises keeping engine load above 50% so fuel per unit doesn't climb.
- No restart drill. Decide which line restarts first and who signs off the first part.
- Crews waiting on dark lines. Summer cuts are predictable; keep a no-power work list (5S, die prep, bench rework, training).
- The cut you don't log. Short dips that trip a CNC or drive cost a restart each time and reach no register. Your camera recorder is also on that power: if the NVR shows disk errors after cuts, read what to check before you format.
What cameras can and cannot tell you here
They can give you a timeline per line: when it went dark, whether it kept running on the DG, how long it took to show steady motion again, and how long crews waited. Counts are aggregated; no individuals are tracked. That measures the restart and dark-line rows instead of assuming them.
They cannot read kW, litres or emissions, judge DG compliance, replace the log book, see a voltage sag that slows a drive without stopping it, or explain a feeder failure. Without UPS backup, cameras go dark too. Any worker-facing camera also needs the DPDP notice in place first (worker CCTV privacy notice).
Where Mama fits
Mama reads a factory's existing cameras and sends the owner a short plain-language note each morning: which lines stopped yesterday, for how long, and what that came to in rupees. That includes the dark hour and the restart tail after each cut. It watches machines and flows, not people. Mama can draw a camera plan for the lines that matter most in outages. Leave an email or phone in the form below. For cluster-specific camera notes, see the Faridabad and NCR guide and the Ludhiana guide.
FAQ
Can I run my diesel generator during GRAP in Delhi NCR? If it is compliant, generally yes. Under CAQM Direction No. 76 (29.09.2023) as amended on 22.02.2024 and 11.12.2024, gas-based sets, sets meeting GSR 804(E), dual-fuel sets and sets with a certified RECD in their capacity band have no restriction even during GRAP. Portable sets below 19 kW are limited to emergency services during GRAP, and a non-compliant set may not run at all. Direction No. 104 (29.09.2026) moved these actions to Stage I.
What is the penalty for running a non-compliant DG set in NCR? CAQM's Standard Schedule of Environmental Compensation dated 01.01.2025 sets, per set per day, ₹7,500 for 20–125 kW sets, ₹15,000 for sets above 125 kW and below 800 kW, and ₹25,000 for 800 kW and above. The rates double for violations found during GRAP. DPCC's 03.06.2025 SOP adds sealing of the set. Without a log book, compensation can be counted from 01.10.2023.
Do the CAQM DG rules apply to factories in Ludhiana or elsewhere in Punjab? No. This schedule applies in NCR: Delhi and parts of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan. Punjab plants follow their state board's consent conditions; their main exposure is supply cuts and diesel cost.
How much does diesel power cost compared with grid power? At ₹95.20 a litre (Delhi, 13 October 2026, per PPAC) and about 0.33 litres per kWh (BEE field data), fuel alone is about ₹31 a unit. That compares with ₹6.95 per kVAh for Haryana 11 kV industrial supply. Maintenance and the set's capital cost come on top.
What's the biggest cost of a power cut that owners miss? Usually restart time and lost margin on lines the DG doesn't carry. The 30 minutes to 2 hours a line needs to get back to rate is rarely recorded.