Temporary Electricity Connection for an Exhibition in Mumbai

gradeelectricalswe

Sep 28

7 min read

Search for what exhibition power costs in India and you get a range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 per stall. That is what an organiser charges an exhibitor. It is not what the utility charges the organiser, and if you are the one applying for the connection, the number you need is not published anywhere.

It is in the tariff order, and it is a multiplier rather than a price.

The 1.5x and 1.25x rule nobody quotes

The current MSEDCL rate schedule has no standalone temporary supply tariff. A temporary connection for an exhibition, a concert or a trade fair is billed under the Commercial category, with a penalty applied on top. The order puts it in one line, as clause (n) of the LT-II Commercial applicability:

Temporary supply for any of the activity not covered under Residential category. Provided that Temporary supply consumer shall pay 1.5 time applicable fixed/demand charges and 1.25-time applicable energy charge.

The same proviso appears as clause (o) under HT-II Commercial for loads taken at high voltage, and word for word in Adani Electricity's tariff order of 2022. It is not an MSEDCL quirk.

So the arithmetic is fixed charge times 1.5, energy charge times 1.25, applied to whatever Commercial slab your sanctioned load falls into.

What that works out to on current MSEDCL rates

For FY 2026-27, applying the multiplier to the LT-II Commercial rates approved in the post-remand order of 25 March 2026:

Sanctioned load	Fixed or demand charge	Energy charge	Wheeling	Total variable
Up to 20 kW	Rs 810 per connection per month	Rs 10.64 per kWh	Rs 1.60	Rs 12.24 per kWh
Above 20 up to 50 kW	Rs 825 per kVA per month	Rs 15.50 per kVAh	Rs 1.52	Rs 17.02 per kVAh
Above 50 kW	Rs 825 per kVA per month	Rs 18.61 per kVAh	Rs 1.52	Rs 20.13 per kVAh

Two things to note. The proviso names fixed, demand and energy charges only. Wheeling is a separate line in the schedule and is not named, so it is shown here unmultiplied. And these are MSEDCL rates. Venues inside Mumbai sit with Adani Electricity, BEST or Tata Power depending on area, and their approved rates differ even though the multiplier does not.

For scale: a factory on LT industrial supply above 20 kW pays Rs 9.19 per kVAh in total variable charges. An exhibition above 50 kW pays Rs 20.13. That is more than double, for the same electrons.

Electricity duty and tax on sale of electricity sit on top of all of this.

Why the connection charge has no number

Every other cost in the MSEDCL schedule has a figure against it. Temporary supply does not. The Commission approved it as "At actual" for both single phase and three phase, on the reasoning that a temporary connection may need a substation, a distribution transformer, an HT line or an LT line depending entirely on the site.

Attached to that approval:

If the licensee lets you do the work through your own Licensed Electrical Contractor, supervision is charged at 1.30% of the normative charges.
If the infrastructure comes out afterwards, you pay the dismantling cost, estimated on the licensee's approved cost data.
Road opening charges vary by area and are levied at actual.
Statutory permission charges are yours.
GST extra.

This is why nobody publishes a figure for an exhibition connection. There isn't one. Anyone quoting you a flat rate before a site survey is quoting their own margin, not the utility's charge.

What the venue requires before anything is energised

The tariff is only half of it. The Bombay Exhibition Centre's own rules put the electrical obligation on the organiser, and they are specific:

All electrical installation and wiring, including what goes to individual stalls, must be done by a licensed electrical contractor of PWD, as per PWD regulations.
All wiring and fittings are arranged by the organiser at the organiser's own cost.
The installation is subject to inspection and approval by the venue's electrical engineer and the power supply authority. Two sign-offs, not one.
The organiser must hand over receipts of the test report and proof that the formalities for the supply connection are complete.
Meter readings are taken before and after the exhibition, confirmed by the venue's technicians, and recorded in writing by both parties.

That last clause is the one that costs money. If nobody from your side witnesses the opening reading, you are arguing about the closing one after the show has been struck and your contractor has left the city.

Sizing the load, at Indian voltages

Search for how much power an exhibition stall needs and the answers come from Las Vegas, London and Toronto. They are written around 110 and 120 volt supply. At 230 volts single phase and 415 volts three phase the currents are different, and so is the point at which you cross a tariff slab.

Load	kVA at 0.9 pf	Single phase at 230 V	Three phase at 415 V	Tariff slab
3 kW	3.3	14.5 A	4.6 A	Up to 20 kW
5 kW	5.6	24.2 A	7.7 A	Up to 20 kW
10 kW	11.1	48.3 A	15.5 A	Up to 20 kW
15 kW	16.7	72.5 A	23.2 A	Up to 20 kW
25 kW	27.8	-	38.6 A	20 to 50 kW
50 kW	55.6	-	77.3 A	20 to 50 kW
100 kW	111.1	-	154.6 A	Above 50 kW
200 kW	222.2	-	309.2 A	Above 50 kW

Work it in this order: total the connected load of every stall and every common service, apply a diversity factor rather than assuming everything runs at once, add headroom for inrush on motors and AV, then convert to kVA at your expected power factor. The slab you land in decides the energy rate for the whole show, so a load sitting just above 50 kW is worth designing back down.

A worked example at organiser scale. A four-day show taking 200 kVA, running eight hours a day at a 0.7 load factor, draws about 4,480 kVAh. At Rs 20.13 that is roughly Rs 90,000 in energy. The demand charge is quoted monthly, at Rs 825 per kVA, which on 200 kVA is Rs 1,65,000. How a monthly demand charge is applied to a connection that lives for four days is a matter of the licensee's billing practice, and it is worth settling in writing before you sign rather than after.

Set against that, the same show billing 150 stalls at Rs 8,000 each collects Rs 12 lakh. The gap is not profit. It pays for distribution boards, cabling, the licensed contractor's crew through build-up and breakdown, DG backup and the standby cover that keeps a hall live when the grid drops. But it is worth knowing which side of the gap you are on.

Utility supply or diesel generator

The grid is cheaper per unit and quieter, and it is the only sensible answer for a multi-day show in a permanent hall with existing infrastructure. A DG set earns its place in three situations: the venue's sanctioned capacity is short of what the show needs, the event is outdoors or on ground with no service, or the show has loads that cannot tolerate an outage at any price.

Most large exhibitions end up with both, grid for the base load and DG on standby with changeover. The question is not which one, it is how the changeover is arranged and who is standing next to it at 6 pm on opening day.

The sequence that works

Get the venue's existing sanctioned load and its distribution licensee, from the venue's own bill. This decides the tariff before anything else.
Build the load schedule from stall bookings, not from hall area. Bare space exhibitors with machinery move the number more than the stall count does.
Decide the slab, and check whether trimming the design keeps you under 50 kW or under 20 kW.
Apply for temporary supply through a licensed electrical contractor, with the load calculation and layout attached.
Budget the connection as a site-survey estimate, not a fixed fee, and get the dismantling cost quoted at the same time.
Book the test report and the two inspections into the build-up schedule. They are not a formality and they do not move for you.
Witness the opening meter reading. Photograph it.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a temporary electricity connection cost for an exhibition in Maharashtra?

There is no fixed figure. The infrastructure charge is approved as "At actual" and depends on whether the site needs a substation, transformer or new line. What is fixed is the tariff: 1.5 times the applicable fixed or demand charge and 1.25 times the applicable energy charge of the Commercial category. On MSEDCL rates for FY 2026-27 that is Rs 825 per kVA per month and Rs 18.61 per kVAh for a load above 50 kW.

Is there a separate temporary supply tariff category in Maharashtra?

Not in the current rate schedule. Temporary supply is billed under LT-II Commercial or HT-II Commercial depending on the voltage you take supply at, with the 1.5x and 1.25x multipliers applied on top.

Who applies for the connection, the organiser or the exhibitor?

The organiser, in almost every case. The venue's rules place the electrical obligation on the organiser, who then recovers it from exhibitors through the power order in the exhibitor manual. Individual exhibitors order a load, not a connection.

Does the exhibition venue need a licensed electrical contractor?

Yes. The Bombay Exhibition Centre requires all electrical installation and wiring, including work inside stalls, to be carried out by a PWD-licensed electrical contractor, and the installation to be inspected by both the venue's electrical engineer and the supply authority before it is energised.

Why is exhibition power more expensive than industrial power?

Because it is billed as commercial supply with a temporary multiplier. An LT industrial consumer above 20 kW pays Rs 9.19 per kVAh in total variable charges on current MSEDCL rates. A temporary exhibition connection above 50 kW pays Rs 20.13.

How much power does an exhibition stall need?

A shell scheme stall with LED lighting, a screen and charging points generally sits between 1 and 3 kW and runs on single phase. Anything with machinery, refrigeration, a kitchen or heavy AV needs three phase, and the load has to be totalled and declared before the layout is approved. The relevant question is not the stall's number but the show's total after diversity, because that is what sets the tariff slab.

About Grade Electricals

Grade Electricals has delivered temporary power for exhibitions and events since 2004, running over 170 events a year, and is empanelled at NESCO Bombay Exhibition Centre and Yashobhoomi. If you are planning a show and need the load schedule, the connection and the licensed contractor in one place, see our exhibition and event power and electrical liaisoning services, or write to enquiry@gradeelectricals.com. Tariff figures on this page are checked against the MERC order each April.