Canara Bank, a public-sector bank owned by the Government of India, has issued an empanelment tender inviting expressions of interest from rooftop solar project developers for the development of rooftop solar PV projects at Canara Bank branches and offices across India. The final date for bid submission is November 2, 2017, and the rooftop solar projects will be developed in either CAPEX or OPEX mode.

A Canara Bank document shows that bidders will be empaneled by region. Each bidder can either apply for empanelment in one region or in all regions (pan India). According to Canara Bank, the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the union territory of Puducherry will all fall under South India region.

West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and the Northeastern states will all fall under the East India region, while Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Goa will all fall under the West India region. In addition, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh fall under Central India region and Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the union territory of Chandigarh will all fall under the North India region.

A pre-submission meeting will be held on November 4, 2017, to answer any questions pertaining to the empanelment tender.

Vendors that satisfy the eligibility criteria will be shortlisted for empanelment which will be valid for one year or up until the time that Canara Bank issues another empanelment tender.

During the empanelment period, if the service provided by a vendor is found to be unsatisfactory or it is found to have provided false information, the bank can de-empanel that vendor without any prior notice.

Canara Bank has offices and branches across India, where rooftop solar is one of the most cost-effective ways of sourcing power. Public sector units will have to play a large part in creating rooftop solar demand to reach the government’s goal of achieving 40 GW in rooftop installations by 2022.

According to Mercom India Research, rooftop solar installations total approximately 1.3 GW as of Q3 2017.

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