MEP Design for an Industrial Park Developer: Trunk Services, Plot Loads and Phasing

MEP design for an industrial park developer is trunk-first: you size power, water, wastewater, fire water and ducts for the whole park from assumed plot loads, build the corridors once, and install capacity in phases as plots are allotted. The weak point is the plot-load assumption. If allottees can draw more than the table assumed, the trunk is overrun, so the assumption must be written into allotment terms.

What is trunk infrastructure and what is plot-level?

The trunk is everything the developer builds and operates, or hands over, before any factory exists: the incoming supply and substation, the internal distribution network, water source and storage, the sewer and any common treatment, storm drains, the fire water ring, ducts for communications and street lighting. The plot-level scope starts at a defined interface on each plot: a metered HT or LT connection, a water meter chamber, a sewer inlet, a hydrant tap-off. Drawing that boundary clearly, in the infrastructure plan and in the allotment letter, prevents most arguments later.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade's Industrial Park Rating System, as described by Invest India, assesses parks under four pillars: internal infrastructure and utilities, external infrastructure and facilities, business support services, and environment and safety management. It is a useful frame for a tenant's questions, and the first pillar is where your MEP design sits.

How do you estimate plot loads?

There is no single code value for industrial load density, so the number is the developer's assumption. State it, justify it, and enforce it. A sound method has five steps:

1. Classify plots by use. Group the master plan into categories such as light assembly, engineering, food processing, cold storage, and warehousing, and note which categories have heavy cooling, process heat or compressed air.
2. Set a connected-load assumption per category, per unit plot area, from measured loads in comparable estates and from allottee enquiries, not from a catalogue.
3. Apply a demand factor per category to move from connected load to the maximum demand a plot will actually draw.
4. Apply diversity across plots to get the coincident demand on the trunk. Plots rarely peak at the same moment; the diversity factor must come from data, and a conservative value is cheaper than a failed network.
5. Add growth and redundancy. Allow for plot expansion and decide whether the network must survive the loss of one transformer or one feeder.

Write the result into allotment terms as a cap on connected load or contract demand per plot, with a procedure for requesting more. Without a cap, a few heavy users can consume capacity planned for the whole park. Our note on master planning MEP for multi-building campuses applies the same logic at campus scale, and the factory electrical capacity calculator helps an allottee check a plot's demand.

What does the power trunk have to comply with?

A park substation is an installation above 650 volts, so Chapter VI of the CEA (Measures relating to Safety and Electric Supply) Regulations, 2023 applies. Several provisions affect design from the first sketch:

• Regulation 45: installations above the voltage notified by the state are inspected and approved by the Electrical Inspector before supply starts. Additions need written approval or self-certification, which matters for a phased substation.
• Regulation 47: transformers of 1000 kVA and above carry Buchholz, pressure relief and temperature protection; transformers of 10 MVA and above add differential protection. Parallel transformers are arranged so the secondary breaker trips when the primary trips.
• Regulation 46(2): oil-filled apparatus above 2000 litres needs barrier walls where adjacent walls are not 4-hour rated, a soak pit and drainage provisions; transformers of 10 MVA and above need an automatic fire-fighting system.
• Regulation 50: the earthing grid keeps touch and step potential tolerable, and transformer neutrals have two separate connections.

The thresholds at 1000 kVA and 10 MVA matter for a park: a substation with two or three transformers will cross them, which adds protection, fire systems and space. Also check the supply route with the DISCOM. Whether the DISCOM builds and owns the network, or the developer builds and hands over, or distributes under an arrangement approved by the state commission, depends on state rules and licensing, so confirm it first. Our note on HT connection and substation approval covers the connection side.

How should you phase the build?

Phasing is a decision about what is built once and what is added. A workable rule:

• Build once: corridors and duct banks, substation civil works and plinths, storage tank civil structures, main sewer and drain trunks, and the fire water ring main route. Retrofitting these into occupied roads is slow and costly.
• Install in phases: transformers, feeder panels, pumps, treatment modules and cable on the ring.
• Reserve: space and cable routes for a second transformer, bays on the HT switchboard, and room in the pump house.
• Tie to allotment: define triggers, for example the next transformer is ordered when allotted load reaches a stated share of installed capacity.

Fault level rises with each transformer you add, so size the switchgear for the ultimate configuration. A park that builds in phases without this rule ends up replacing switchboards. Our note on the MEP readiness gap in industrial corridors shows where utilities fall behind demand.

Which approvals apply at park level?

Expect these separate streams, each with its own authority and forms: the DISCOM for the supply arrangement; the Electrical Inspector for the HT installation under regulation 45; the state fire service for the park's fire water system and any fire station, with plot-level Fire NOCs for each factory (see Fire NOC for factories); the pollution control board for consent to establish and operate any common treatment plant (see CTE and CTO); and, for large parks, environmental clearance (see environmental clearance under the EIA notification). Which streams and thresholds apply to a given park depends on the state and the park's size, so confirm with the development authority before you freeze the programme.

How Secured Engineers helps

We design the electrical, HVAC, fire fighting and plumbing systems in-house, and the same team prepares Fire NOC, CEIG and DISCOM filings. MEPF and solar can sit under one contract, and a park roof or plot-level solar scheme can be designed with the trunk in mind. We work from our Noida (Delhi NCR) and Ludhiana offices, across 535+ projects in 18+ states, with 89.77% repeat clients. For a park developer the usual starting point is a technical review of the trunk concept: load assumptions, redundancy, corridor widths, fire water and the approvals route. We review the design and do not sell audits.

Send your master plan and utility concept to our MEP design consultancy team for a design review, message us on WhatsApp, call +91 70099 85817, or ask for a free proposal. Use the MEPF cost calculator for plot-level budgets.