Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) has invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) package to set up 220 MW of solar projects anywhere in Gujarat under the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited’s (GUVNL’s) tender to procure 750 MW (Phase-XVI) of solar power.

The successful bidder will also have to take care of the project’s operation and maintenance (O&M) activities for ten years.

The last date to submit the bids is August 17, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders will have to submit ₹88 million (~$1.11 million) as an earnest money deposit. The successful bidder should submit a security deposit-cum-performance bank guarantee of 10 % of the EPC contract price within seven working days from the issue of the letter of intent (LoI).

The selected contractor must also submit the O&M bank guarantee equivalent to 5% of the EPC contract price to GSECL within 30 days from the start of the O&M period.

The estimated cost of the tender is ₹8.8 billion (~$110.72 million).

Bidders should have previously designed, supplied, erected, supervised, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects of a cumulative installed capacity of 20% or higher of the total bid capacity. Out of this, at least one plant should have been 5% or higher of total bid capacity.

The reference project of minimum capacity as mentioned above for 5% must have been in successful operation for at least six months before the bid opening date.

The cumulative turnover of the bidder for the last three financial years should be at least₹40 million (~$503,276) X Capacity in MW (the bidder is bidding) X 0.7

The net worth of the bidders in the last financial year should be positive. In case a bidder is a 100 % subsidiary company and does not satisfy the annual turnover criteria stipulated above on its own, its holding company would be required to meet the stipulated turnover requirements.

The project capacity at each location should be a minimum of 50 MW with additional capacities in multiple of 50 MW. The bidder must quote for a total of 220 MW. Any lower bid capacities will not be considered.

Recently, GSECL invited bids to install and commission a 20 MW grid-connected solar power project around the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation substation at Itiya in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.

Earlier, GSECL had invited bids from EPC contractors to develop 131 MW of solar projects in the Surendranagar and Morbi districts of the state.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, GSECL has issued EPC tenders for 787.5 MW of solar capacity to date.