Central Electronics (CEL), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, has invited expressions of interest (EoI) to run an existing 40 MW automated solar module manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh.

The last date to submit bids is March 3, 2025. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The scope of work covers manufacturing, operation, maintenance, marketing, and the sale of the solar modules.

The contract period will be for two years and extendable for one year.

The solar module facility in Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh, will operate three shifts. It also has a facility to store about 12 MW of solar modules.

CEL will provide supporting infrastructure/utilities for running the plant, round-the-clock security, power and water supply at commercial rates, and building maintenance services.

It will also provide consumables, tools, and skilled and unskilled manpower needed to run the plant.

In 2023, CEL invited bids for the operation and maintenance, including round-the-clock security services, for a 1 MW solar project at the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute’s Pilani Campus.

India added 11.3 GW of solar modules and 2 GW of cell manufacturing capacity in the first half of 2024, according to Mercom India’s research report, State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 1H 2024.

As of June 2024, India’s cumulative solar module manufacturing capacity reached 77.2 GW, while solar cell capacity totaled 7.6 GW.

The capacity additions were driven by a robust solar project pipeline of 132.7 GW planned between 2024 and 2026 and the reinstatement of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order in April 2024.

In January, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy updated the ALMM for solar modules, adding 3,015 MW of new capacity. The cumulative module manufacturing capacity stands at 67,401 MW. The ALMM now has 90 module manufacturers listed.