Solar for factories in Sanand GIDC and Khoraj

Sanand II at Bol: a zoned estate

GIDC's June 2022 presentation gives Sanand II an area of 2,056 hectares, on land around Bol and Hirapur villages. Unlike the older city estates, it was laid out in product zones. GIDC's zone map shows ten of them: auto vendor, multinational, plastic engineering, commercial, pharma, electronic, medical devices, knowledge park, a women's park and engineering. The Women Industrial Park has its own page on GIDC's site.

The portal figures as on October 2026 show 2,000 plots, of which 1,385 are allotted and 615 are not, and the estate is marked unsaturated. The auto vendor zone is meant for component suppliers, and such suppliers typically work to their customers' production schedules, which shapes when their power is used.

Power supply and who to deal with

Sanand is UGVCL territory. GIDC's presentation tells new units to apply to UGVCL for power, and lists three 66/11 kV substations working with two more planned, plus a 400/220 kV substation inside the estate. UGVCL has two Sanand sub-divisions under different divisions, Sanand-1 under Bopal and Sanand-2 under Bavla, so your bill decides which office handles the solar file.

Plants with a large contract demand take HT supply, billed under HTP-I. For an HT consumer, GERC's rules count solar only against energy used between 7 am and 6 pm on the same day, with no carry over. Output on Sundays or shutdown days mostly goes to UGVCL at a tender-linked rate, so check how many non-working days your calendar has.

Big roofs and the 1,000 kW line

A component plant on a few hectares can have a roof that would take more than a megawatt of panels. Rooftop net metering in Gujarat stops at 1,000 kW per project, so larger roofs or loads need another route. The installer can explain captive and open-access options.

Before anyone draws a layout, ask for the roof's design loads. Pre-engineered buildings are often designed to a tight margin, and an array plus walkways and cable trays adds weight that the original designer may not have allowed for. Skylights, ridge ventilators and roof-mounted HVAC units also break up the usable area.

• Get the PEB supplier's design load sheet or have a structural engineer check it
• Mark out skylight strips and ventilators before counting panels
• Confirm the roof sheet warranty conditions for clamps or fasteners

If your plot is still empty

With 615 plots in Sanand II still unallotted on the October 2026 portal data, many factory buildings here are yet to be designed. If yours is one of them, that is the cheapest time to plan for solar. Ask your architect to add the array weight to the roof design, orient long roof slopes south where the plot allows, keep a cable route and an inverter room near the main HT panel, and avoid placing ventilators across the best section of roof.

Sanand III at Khoraj

Khoraj is GIDC's newer Sanand III estate, aimed at aerospace and defence, engineering, automobiles and ancillaries and electronics, with a Japan Industrial Township and a housing zone. GIDC's June 2022 presentation puts it at 1,512 acres. The October 2026 portal lists 255 plots with only 8 allotted, a handful of them very large.

The 2022 presentation says the area was then supplied from the Chharodi substation, five to seven kilometres away, with one 220 kV and four 66 kV substations planned. A plant going up here should confirm its connection capacity and timeline with UGVCL early, and treat the roof as part of the energy plan from the start. If you want help, we can pass your details to one checked installer who works in Sanand.