The Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) has floated a tender for solar mother care cum maternity kits in the state.

Interested bidders are expected to make an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹500,000 (~$6,794). Start-ups and new entrepreneurs are expected to pay only ₹100,000 (~$1,359). The last date for submitting bids is December 28, 2020.

The scope of work includes designing, preparing, and supplying the kits to any location in the state as per CREDA-approved design and specifications. They must also plan a detailed timeline for the smooth execution of the project and conduct a performance test of the complete system. Selected bidders must provide a five-year comprehensive and unconditional warranty on the units.

The kits must comprise a medical equipment kit case and a solar home lighting system. The medical equipment kit case must be a portable and self-contained system that provides high-efficiency lighting and 12V DC electricity. The solar home lighting systems are to be permanently installed at village health centers or at the residences of the village’s concerned health worker.

To be eligible to place bids, applicants must have a valid registration certificate as a system integrator in CREDA in the solar photovoltaic program for the financial year 2020-21. Bidders must have direct experience supplying at least 10 such kits, whereas start-ups and new entrepreneurs need to have supplied at least two.

Prospective bidders must also have an aggregate annual turnover of at least ₹50 million (~$679,371) in SPV projects in the last three financial years. They must also have had a positive net worth as of March 31, 2019. Bidders must have their own office and service center with proper facilities within Chhattisgarh.

Solar kits consisting of off-grid solutions like solar lighting systems assume greater significance in rural parts of the country where grid power is often not very reliable.

Recently, the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT) invited bids for the empanelment of agencies for solar lanterns, soura suvidha kits, solar home lighting systems, and solar street lighting systems below 1 kW in Kerala.

Previously, the state of Tamil Nadu issued 43 tenders to supply, install, and commission LED-based solar home lighting systems in 53,734 houses located in the rural areas of the state.