PFC Consulting, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), has invited bids to develop an interstate transmission system (ISTS) to evacuate 20 GW of power from the renewable energy zone in Rajasthan under Phase-III, Part-A1.

Similarly, in another tender, PFC Consulting has invited bids to develop ISTS to evacuate 20 GW of power from the renewable energy zone in Rajasthan under Phase-III, Part-A3.

The transmission projects will be developed on a build, own, operate, and transfer basis.

The last date to submit the bids is April 18, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The projects must be completed within 18 months from the effective date.

The successful bidder will have to furnish an amount equivalent to ₹110 million (~$1.45 million) as a contract performance guarantee within ten days from the date of the issuance of the letter of intent for the transmission project under Phase III, Part-A1.

For the transmission project under Phase III, Part-A3, the successful bidder will have to submit an amount equivalent to ₹200 million (~$2.64 million) a contract performance guarantee from the date of the issuance of the letter of intent.

Under Part A1, interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹44 million ($581,535) as the earnest money deposit (EMD) to participate in the tender. Whereas, under Part A3, interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹80 million ($1.06 million) as EMD to participate in the tender.

To participate in the bidding process, the bidder should have experience in developing projects in the infrastructure sector of value not less than ₹5 billion (~$66.08 million). However, the capital expenditure of each project should not be less than ₹1 billion (~$13.22 million).

Alternatively, the bidder should have experience in construction projects in the infrastructure sector. The technically evaluated entity should have received aggregate payments of value not less than ₹5 billion (~$66.08 million) from its clients for fully completed construction works in the last five years. However, the payment received from each project should not be less than ₹1 billion (~$13.22 million).

The technically evaluated entity may be the bidding company or the lead member of a consortium or an affiliate or parent of such bidding company or the lead member, as the case may be.

The bidder’s net worth should not be less than ₹2.5 billion (~$33.04 million) during any of the last three financial years. Also, the bidder’s net worth during any of the last three financial years should not be negative.

If the transmission service provider fails to achieve the commercial operation date of the project, then the transmission service provider will have to pay the nodal agency a sum equivalent to 3.33% of the monthly transmission charges applicable for the project for each day of delay up to 60 days of delay and beyond that, at the rate of 5% of the monthly transmission charges, as liquidated damages for such delay.

Last July, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission granted transmission license to Bikaner-II Bhiwadi Transco, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Power Grid Corporation of India, to establish a transmission system strengthening program for evacuation of power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase II-Part F, on build, own, operate, and maintain basis.

Earlier, the Power Finance Corporation had announced the incorporation of five of its SPVs as wholly-owned subsidiaries of PFC Consulting.  Four of them were initially set up for strengthening transmission systems for the evacuation of power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW each) under the second phase (Parts E, G, D, and F) of their respective transmission programs.

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