The Asansol Division of Eastern Railway in West Bengal has invited bids from solar developers to install 1 MW grid-connected rooftop solar projects on a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer basis.

The last date to submit the bids is April 18, 2024. Bids open on the same day.

The scope of work includes designing, building, financing, operating, and long–term maintenance and transfer of roof-mounted solar projects at selected locations of Eastern Railways. The project will generate and supply power to the Asansol division.

Bidders must pay a bid processing management fee of ₹75,000 ($899) and ₹34,810 ($417) as the bid document fee.

They must also furnish ₹1.07 million ($12,836)/MW as an earnest money deposit. The successful bidder must submit a performance bank guarantee of ₹1.6 million (~$19,194) /MW of the allotted capacity within 30 days of signing the power purchase agreement.

During the first year of operations, the solar developer will have to provide a minimum capital utilization facility (CUF) of 15% for general category states & 13.5% for special category states.

The project will be awarded to the bidder quoting the lowest fixed tariff with no escalation clause for 25 years.

The successful bidder will sign a power purchase agreement for 25 years. The projects installed under the tender will not be eligible for any central financial assistance from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy or Railways.

Bidders must have experience installing a minimum aggregate 200 kW capacity of grid-connected rooftop solar systems in developer or engineering, procurement, and construction mode.

Bidders with experience installing and commissioning a minimum aggregate capacity of 1,000 kW of any grid-connected systems across residential, social, industrial, commercial, and government sectors are eligible to participate in this tender.

The average annual turnover of the bidders should be ₹15 million (~$179,941). They should have a positive net worth during the last three financial years.

Last December, the Eastern Railways invited bids to install a 1.125 MW grid-connected rooftop solar project at its Howrah division in West Bengal.

It had also floated a tender for 3 MW ground-mounted solar power projects in the Kanchrapara railway station.

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