Industrial areas we serve · the Kutch belt
Subsidy consultant for Mundra, Kandla, Gandhidham, Anjar, Bhachau and Bhuj
Kutch is Gujarat’s port district: Mundra and Kandla (Deendayal Port), the Kandla and Mundra special economic zones, and the Gandhidham–Anjar–Bhachau strip of edible-oil refining, timber, salt and marine chemicals, textiles, steel pipes, cement and power. Mundra, Gandhidham, Anjar, Bhachau, Abdasa and Bhuj are Category B talukas under the Viksit Gujarat Industrial Policy 2026; Rapar, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Mandvi are Category A. PGVCL supplies the power and both ports have their own Customs Commissionerate, which makes Kutch the natural home of the MOOWR scheme. We file it, EPCG, the capital, interest and power tariff subsidies and the electricity duty exemption for units across the district.
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Kachchh district: the port and estate talukas are Category B; Rapar, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Mandvi are Category A.
- Bcategory of Mundra, Gandhidham (Kandla), Anjar, Bhachau, Abdasa and Bhuj talukas
- 10 yrselectricity duty exemption for a new unit in Kandla SEZ or Mundra SEZ; 5 years elsewhere, from the date production starts
- 0%customs duty upfront on machinery and inputs bonded under MOOWR at Mundra or Kandla
On this page
Industrial estates in the Kutch belt: talukas, categories and DISCOM
Three things fixed by the plot decide what a unit here earns: the taluka’s category under the Viksit Gujarat Industrial Policy 2026 — Mundra, Anjar, Gandhidham, Abdasa, Bhachau and Bhuj are Category B; Rapar, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Mandvi are Category A — the DISCOM that bills the power, which is PGVCL across the district, and the offices that handle the file: two Customs Commissionerates, one for Mundra taluka and one for the rest of Kutch. The estates and their talukas are below.
- District
- Kachchh
- DISCOM
- PGVCL (Paschim Gujarat Vij Company) for the whole district
- DGFT (EPCG)
- Regional Authority Ahmedabad — Kutch is excluded from the Rajkot authority’s Saurashtra jurisdiction under Appendix 1A; the Development Commissioner, KASEZ, for units inside Kandla SEZ
- Customs (MOOWR)
- Principal Commissioner of Customs, Mundra, for the whole of Mundra taluka including the Adani port and SEZ; Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, for the rest of Kachchh including Deendayal Port and the airport (CBIC Notification 21/2022-Customs N.T.)
- Sanctioning offices
- District Industries Centre, Kutch, at Bhuj for MSME claims; Industries Commissionerate, Gandhinagar, for Large, Mega and Ultra Mega units
Swipe sideways to see every column
| Estate | Taluka | District | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mundra port area and Mundra SEZ | Mundra | Kachchh | B |
| Kandla (Deendayal Port) and Kandla SEZ | Gandhidham | Kachchh | B |
| Gandhidham–Adipur industrial area | Gandhidham | Kachchh | B |
| Anjar and Varsamedi | Anjar | Kachchh | B |
| Bhachau and Samakhiali | Bhachau | Kachchh | B |
| Bhuj GIDC | Bhuj | Kachchh | B |
| Mandvi, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Rapar | Mandvi / Nakhatrana / Lakhpat / Rapar | Kachchh | A |
Categories are as listed in the annexure to the taluka GR of 8 September 2026 (IMD/HMR/e-file/9/2026/2211/I). Several talukas were newly created when the list was drawn up and can differ from their neighbours, so we confirm the category in writing before you file.
What a unit in the Kutch belt earns under VGIP 2026
The table reads the three VGIP 2026 GRs for the talukas of the Kutch belt. The first column is where most plots in the belt fall; the Large columns are the general-sector and thrust-sector matrices of the GR of 8 September 2026 (chemicals, textiles, capital equipment, mobility, healthcare and the other thrust sectors are listed in its Annexure-A). Electricity duty exemption and EPF reimbursement are statutory and sit outside the ceiling in every column.
Swipe sideways to see every column
| Component | MSME, Category B | MSME, Category A (Rapar, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat, Mandvi) | Large, general sectors (B) | Large, thrust sectors (B) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital subsidy | 25% of EFCIover 5 years; micro units in one instalment | 35% of EFCIover 5 years; micro units in one instalment | 10% of EFCIover 10 years | 15% of EFCIover 8 years |
| Interest subsidyon the term loan; 8% for women, first-generation and registered start-up MSMEs | 7% a year5 years, up to 10% of EFCI | 7% a year5 years, up to 10% of EFCI | 7% a year10 years, up to 10% of EFCI | 7% a year8 years, up to 15% of EFCI |
| Power tariff subsidyon units bought from the DISCOM | ₹1 a unit5 years, up to 25% of EFCI | ₹2 a unit5 years, up to 25% of EFCI | ₹1 a unit10 years, up to 10% of EFCI | ₹1 a unit8 years, up to 15% of EFCI |
| Combined ceilingthe three above, together | 35% of EFCIover 5 years; 7% a year for small and medium units | 45% of EFCIover 5 years; 9% a year for small and medium units | 15% of EFCIover 10 years; 1.5% a year | 25% of EFCIover 8 years; 3.5% a year |
| Electricity duty exemption | 100% for 5 years from the date production starts10 years for a new SEZ unit; statutory under the Gujarat Electricity Duty Act 1958, outside the ceiling, the same for every size and category | |||
| EPF reimbursement | 100% for 5 yearsof the employer’s EPF on new employees, up to ₹1,800 / ₹2,500 / ₹3,000 a month; outside the ceiling | 100% for 5 yearsof the employer’s EPF on new employees, up to ₹1,800 / ₹2,500 / ₹3,000 a month; outside the ceiling | 100% for 10 yearsof the employer’s EPF on new employees, same monthly caps; outside the ceiling | 100% for 8 yearsof the employer’s EPF on new employees, same monthly caps; outside the ceiling |
The ceiling, not the rates, usually sets the number. Capital, interest and power tariff subsidy together cannot exceed 35% of EFCI over five years for an MSME in a Category B taluka (45% in Category A), and 15% over ten years for a Large unit in a general sector (25% over eight for a thrust sector). A power-hungry plant that could earn more than that from the power tariff subsidy alone is therefore placed in the components that pay earliest and most reliably — which is a filing decision, not a formula.
Which incentives apply in the Kutch belt
The same package applies in every belt of Gujarat; what the belt sets is the rate (by taluka category), the DISCOM whose bills carry the power tariff subsidy and the electricity duty, and the customs and DGFT offices that take the MOOWR and EPCG files. For the Kutch belt that means Category B rates on the port and estate talukas and Category A in Mandvi, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Rapar, PGVCL’s bills as the claim documents, Regional Authority Ahmedabad for EPCG, and the Mundra or Kandla Commissionerate for MOOWR.
Capital subsidy in Gujarat
25% of eligible fixed capital investment for an MSME in a Category B taluka (35% in Category A); 10% to 35% for Large, Mega and Ultra Mega units, paid in annual instalments within the combined ceiling.
Interest subsidy in Gujarat
7% a year on the term loan in every taluka, 8% for women, first-generation and registered start-up MSMEs; the unit bears at least 2%. Five years for MSMEs, capped at 10% of EFCI; eight to twelve years for larger units.
Power tariff subsidy in Gujarat
₹1 a unit on power bought from PGVCL in the Category B talukas (₹2 in Category A), for five years for MSMEs, capped at 25% of EFCI. Captive power does not count; an expansion claims only its additional consumption on a sub-meter.
Electricity duty exemption in Gujarat
No electricity duty — 15% of consumption charges on HT, 10% on LT — for five years from the date production starts, ten for a new SEZ unit. Applied for at CEICED within 90 days of production; statutory, outside the VGIP ceiling, and available inside GIDC estates.
MOOWR and EPCG
No customs duty upfront on imported machinery and inputs under MOOWR (duty on inputs only when goods are sold in India), or zero duty under EPCG against exports of six times the duty saved within six years, filed at Regional Authority Ahmedabad. Central schemes, so they stack on the Gujarat package.
EPF reimbursement and the connection refund
100% of the employer’s EPF on new employees, up to ₹1,800 to ₹3,000 a month each, for five years (MSMEs) to ten, outside the ceiling. And for MSMEs outside GIDC estates and approved parks, 35% of the DISCOM’s service-line charges back, up to ₹5 lakh.
What the Kutch belt makes, and the schemes that fit
A chemical plant’s money is in its power bill; an engineering unit’s in its machinery and its loan; a labour-intensive plant’s in its EPF. The belt’s main sectors and the components that matter most for each:
Swipe sideways to see every column
| Sector | Where | Schemes that usually matter most |
|---|---|---|
| Port-based processing: edible oil, timber, grain | Kandla, Gandhidham, Mundra | MOOWR scheme on imported inputs that leave as exports or are sold in India; capital and interest subsidy on new plant; EPF reimbursement in Gujarat |
| Steel pipes, textiles and home textiles | Anjar, Bhachau | Capital and interest subsidy; EPCG scheme on imported lines; power tariff subsidy in Gujarat on the process load |
| Salt, bromine and marine chemicals | Coastal talukas | The electricity duty exemption in Gujarat for five years; power tariff subsidy; ₹2 a unit and 35% capital subsidy where the plot falls in a Category A taluka such as Lakhpat or Mandvi |
| Cement, power and renewables | Bhachau, the coast | Large, Mega and Ultra Mega registration under the Viksit Gujarat Industrial Policy 2026 by 8 December 2026; electricity duty exemption on industrial consumption |
| Engineering, logistics and warehousing | Gandhidham, Mundra | Capital and interest subsidy for manufacturing MSMEs; GeM registration for government buyers; the power connection refund outside GIDC estates |
Worked example: a steel-pipe MSME at Anjar
A pipe mill at Anjar with ₹25 crore of eligible investment, a ₹15 crore term loan and a 2.5 MW connection, importing its forming line under EPCG. Anjar is Category B: 25%, 7% and ₹1 a unit, with a 35% combined ceiling.
₹25 crore pipe mill, Anjar
A small enterprise by plant-and-machinery value, with an imported forming and welding line; the ceiling, not the three rates, sets the VGIP number.
- Eligible fixed capital investment (plant, machinery, building; land excluded): ₹25 crore
- Term loan of ₹15 crore at 9.5%, 7-year tenure with a 1-year moratorium, repaid in equal annual instalments; the unit bears 2.5% after the 7% subsidy
- Contracted load 2,500 kW, run 6,000 hours a year — 15 million units bought from the DISCOM
- Small enterprise (plant and machinery up to ₹25 crore), steel pipes, new unit; the imported line enters at zero duty under EPCG
- Capital subsidy, 25% of EFCI₹6.25 crore
- Interest subsidy, 7% on the balance for 5 years (₹4.2 crore before the 10% cap)₹2.5 crore
- Power tariff subsidy, ₹1 a unit on 15 million units a year for 5 years (₹7.5 crore before the 25% cap)₹6.25 crore
- The three components added₹15 crore
- Combined ceiling, 35% of EFCI over 5 years₹8.75 crore
₹8.75 crore under VGIP 2026, not ₹15 crore. The three components add up to more than the combined ceiling, so the ceiling is the answer — and the file is built so the pipe unit reaches it in five years, with the electricity duty exemption in Gujarat and EPF reimbursement claimed on top, outside the ceiling.
Figures are illustrative and rounded; the GR’s eligible fixed capital investment excludes land, working capital and second-hand machinery, and the interest subsidy runs only on the term loan actually disbursed. Our capital subsidy worked example, interest subsidy worked example and power tariff subsidy worked example walk through each component year by year, and the Gujarat subsidy calculator applies the right category to any taluka in the belt.
How a claim runs for a unit in the Kutch belt
Every file in the Kutch belt passes through the same offices: the District Industries Centre at Bhuj for MSME claims, the Industries Commissionerate in Gandhinagar for Large units and above, CEICED online for the electricity duty exemption, Regional Authority Ahmedabad for EPCG and the jurisdictional Customs Commissionerate for MOOWR. We prepare, file and follow each one.
Fix the category and the dates
We read the plot’s taluka from the land record, confirm its category in writing, and set the project’s dates: investment counted from 1 January 2026, the date of commercial production, and the first deadline that follows from it.
Before you spendRegister where the size requires it
Large, Mega and Ultra Mega units register with the Industries Commissionerate before production or by 8 December 2026, whichever is later; MSMEs need no registration step but apply for the provisional or final eligibility certificate within six months of the date of commercial production.
Before productionFile the statutory and central applications on their own clocks
The electricity duty exemption online to CEICED within 90 days of production; the MOOWR application to the jurisdictional Customs Commissionerate before the first bonded import; EPCG at Regional Authority Ahmedabad before the machinery lands.
To each scheme’s clockClaim with the sanctioning office
The District Industries Centre at Bhuj takes the MSME claims for capital, interest and power tariff subsidy, the quarterly EPF claims and the connection refund; the Industries Commissionerate takes the Large claims. Queries and asset verification are answered on site.
Follow every instalment
Annual instalments over five years for small and medium units, quarterly EPF, MOOWR returns, and the DISCOM’s refund of duty paid before the exemption certificate — tracked until the money is in the account.
The dates that decide a claim in the Kutch belt
Four dates do most of the work in a VGIP 2026 claim, and all four are fixed by the GRs rather than by the estate. Investment counts from 1 January 2026; Large, Mega and Ultra Mega units must be registered before production or by 8 December 2026, whichever is later (see our note on the 8 December 2026 registration deadline); the electricity duty exemption is applied for within 90 days of the first production; and commercial production must start before the operative period ends on 31 May 2031.
- 1 Jan 2026Assets bought and paid for from this date count as eligible investment
- 8 Dec 2026Registration deadline for Large, Mega and Ultra Mega units, or before production if later
- 90 daysAfter production starts: electricity duty exemption application to CEICED
- 31 May 2031The operative period ends; production must start within it
MSMEs apply for the provisional eligibility certificate within six months of the date of commercial production or of 25 September 2026, whichever is later; a late application within two years is accepted with the incentive reduced in proportion to the delay. The power connection refund is claimed within six months of paying the DISCOM’s charges; EPCG is authorised before the machinery is imported; a MOOWR licence is in place before the first bonded consignment.
The Kutch belt: questions we get asked
Is Mundra Category A or Category B under VGIP 2026?
Category B. The taluka GR of 8 September 2026 lists Mundra, Anjar, Gandhidham, Abdasa, Bhachau and Bhuj as Category B; the Category A talukas of Kachchh are Rapar, Nakhatrana, Lakhpat and Mandvi. A unit at Mundra port or in the SEZ therefore runs on the Category B column: 25% capital subsidy for MSMEs, ₹1 a unit, a 35% ceiling. We confirm the category in writing before you file.
Which Customs office issues a MOOWR licence for a plant at Anjar or Gandhidham?
The Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, whose jurisdiction under CBIC Notification 21/2022-Customs (N.T.) is the whole of Kachchh district except Mundra taluka. A plant inside Mundra taluka — the port, the SEZ and the villages around them — files with the Principal Commissioner of Customs, Mundra. The licence must be in place before the first bonded consignment.
Does a unit in Kandla SEZ or Mundra SEZ get the electricity duty exemption for ten years?
Yes: a new industrial unit in a special economic zone is exempt for ten years from the date production starts, against five years elsewhere. The application goes to CEICED within 90 days of production, and PGVCL stops charging the duty once the certificate reaches it.
Why does Kutch file EPCG at Ahmedabad and not Rajkot?
Because Appendix 1A gives the Rajkot Regional Authority the Saurashtra districts excluding Kutch; Kutch stays with Ahmedabad, whose jurisdiction is Gujarat outside the Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat authorities. A unit inside Kandla SEZ deals with the Development Commissioner, KASEZ, instead.
Our salt works is in Lakhpat taluka. Which rate applies?
Category A. Lakhpat, Mandvi, Nakhatrana and Rapar are the district’s Category A talukas, so an MSME there earns 35% of EFCI as capital subsidy, ₹2 a unit of power tariff subsidy and a 45% combined ceiling — against 25%, ₹1 and 35% in Abdasa, Bhuj or Mundra next door. The taluka of the plot, read from the land record, decides.
Is captive renewable power eligible for the power tariff subsidy?
No. Power from a captive plant — solar, wind or gas — does not earn the subsidy; power bought from PGVCL or through open access from a renewable generator does, at ₹1 a unit in a Category B taluka. The captive plant’s cost can still count in eligible fixed capital investment if it sits within the premises.
Does a unit inside Gandhidham or Bhuj GIDC get the power connection refund?
No. The 35% refund of service-line charges, up to ₹5 lakh, is for MSMEs outside GIDC estates and approved industrial parks — units on private land around Anjar, Bhachau or Samakhiali qualify. Every other component applies inside the estates.
Legal basis and official sources
Every rate on this page is the published term of the scheme it links to, read from the GRs and the Act; the taluka categories come from the taluka GR’s annexure.
Classification of talukas: Category A and B
Annexure-A lists all 268 talukas, district by district, as Category A or Category B — the source for every category on this page.
Download the GRScheme for assistance to MSMEs
Capital, interest and power tariff subsidy, EPF reimbursement and the power connection refund: rates, periods, ceilings and sanctioning authorities.
Download the GRScheme for assistance to Large, Mega and Ultra Mega industries
The general, thrust and selected-thrust matrices, the registration rule, PEC and FEC timelines and the sanctioning committees.
Download the GRNotes. Taluka categories are read from the annexure to the taluka GR; DISCOM areas from the distribution licences in force; DGFT jurisdictions from Appendix 1A of the Handbook of Procedures; Customs jurisdictions from CBIC Notification 21/2022-Customs (N.T.) of 31 March 2022; sector descriptions are ours. Estate boundaries, approved-park status and the DISCOM for a specific plot are confirmed with the GIDC, the DISCOM and the District Industries Centre before filing. Scheme notices are published by the Industries Commissionerate, Gujarat.
We work with units across Kachchh district from our office in Ahmedabad: the eligibility check is free and names every scheme, figure and deadline for your plot.
- Taluka category confirmed in writing before you commit the land
- Registration and eligibility certificates timed to the date of commercial production
- Electricity duty exemption filed with CEICED within 90 days; MOOWR and EPCG before the first import
- Claims filed and followed at the District Industries Centre at Bhuj
Setting up or expanding in Kutch: Mundra, Gandhidham and Anjar?
One free eligibility check: the taluka category confirmed in writing, every scheme that applies, the figures and the first deadline.