The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a subsidiary of Coal India, has invited fresh bids to develop a 20 MW grid-connected solar power project at Piparwar in Jharkhand.

The scope of work would include the design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage, installation, and commissioning of grid-connected 20 MW ground-mounted solar PV project at Piparwar in Jharkhand.

The tender was initially floated in December 2019. According to an official from CCL, the L1 winner who won last time didn’t finish the project and was debarred from taking part in any future projects.

The project is estimated to cost ₹919.3 million (~$12.5 million). The contract will also include the operation and maintenance of the project for five years. The work will have to be completed within 270 days.

The last date to submit the bids is April 29, 2021. Bids will be opened on April 30.

The bidder should have designed, erected, and commissioned grid-connected solar projects of cumulative installed capacity of 16 MW or higher, out of which one project should have been of 10 MW or higher capacity as an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor or as a developer. The reference project should have been in operation for at least six months before the bid opening date.

Alternatively, the bidder should have executed in the last ten years an industrial project either as a developer or as an EPC contractor in the area of power, steel, oil & gas, petrochemical, cement, and coal mining of a value of ₹730 million (~$9.93 million) or more in a single project. The project should have been in successful operation for at least one year before the bid opening date. The bidder should have executed at least one electrical substation of 33 kV or above consisting of equipment such as 33 kV or above voltage level circuit breakers and power transformer, either as a developer or an EPC contractor, which should have been in successful operation for at least one year.

The bidder’s average annual financial turnover during the last three financial years should be at least 30% of the estimated cost put to tender. The bidder’s working capital should be at least 20% of the annualized value or the estimated value, whichever is less inclusive of access to lines of credit and availability of other financial resources to meet the requirement.

In the case of a joint venture, the lead member should have at least a 50% share in the required working capital to qualify for the tender. All other members should have to possess at least a 25% share in the necessary working capital to be eligible for the tender.

Any bidder from a country that shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid in this tender only if the bidder is registered with the competent authority.

Recently, Coal India invited bids for the design, engineering, procurement, construction, testing, and commissioning of a 100 MW (AC) grid-connected solar power project in Gujarat.

Earlier, Coal India had announced that it would invest ₹56.50 billion ($763 million) by March 2024 to develop 14 solar power projects to help power its mining operations. The state-owned company will fund nearly two-thirds of the total capacity of 3 GW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar projects. The company would enter into a joint venture with the NLC India and fund the rest of its solar expansion plans.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, Coal India has so far floated tenders for 800 MW of solar power projects.

Mercom’s premium event Mercom India Solar Summit, to be held virtually on April 8 and 9, has an exclusive session on ‘Tenders and Auctions – From Pipeline to PPAs, How We Get There.’ You can click here to register for the event.

The article has been updated to reflect the comments from the tendering entity.