Mahanadi Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has invited bids for operation and maintenance (O&M) of a 2 MW solar project at its Burla headquarters in Sambalpur district of Odisha for two years.

The last date to submit the bids is July 13, 2021, and bids will be opened on July 15.

There is no requirement of any earnest money deposit to participate in the bidding process. Successful bidders will have to submit 3% performance security of the contract amount within 21 days from when the letter of award is issued. The bank guarantee submitted for performance security should be ₹500,000 (~$6,724) and above.

To participate in the bidding process, the bidder should have an experience of executing a similar work, valuing 50% of the annualized value of work put to tender for over one year, or a contract with a value of 50% of the estimated value of work for one year during the last seven years.

Annualized value of the work will be calculated as the – estimated value/period of completion in days x 365.

The bidder should possess a valid electrical contractor’s license issued by an electrical licensing board or authority of any Indian state or union territory.

Mahanadi Coalfields has stated that preference will be given to local suppliers under the ‘Make in India’ policy. As per the policy, Class-I and Class-II local suppliers will have an advantage.

Class-I local suppliers are those whose goods, services, or works offered for procurement, has local content equal to or more than 50%.

Class-II local suppliers’ goods, services, or works are offered for procurement, with local content equal to or more than 20% but less than 50%.

The company also mentions that 25% of the tendered quantity has been reserved for micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Out of the 25% reserved for MSE suppliers, 4% has been earmarked for procurement by MSEs owned by scheduled caste and scheduled tribe entrepreneurs, and 3% has been reserved for MSEs owned by women.

As per the tender document, if the MSE vendor participating in the tender quotes within the price band of lowest (L1)+15%, he will be awarded 25% of the total tendered work requirement subject to acceptance of the L1 price. In the case of more than one such MSE, the supply will be shared proportionately. If the work cannot be split, then the opportunity to match the L1 rate of the tender will first be given to MSE, who has quoted the lowest rate among the MSEs, and the total work will be awarded to them after matching the L1 price.

The contractor will have to ensure 98% plant availability subject to grid availability with a guaranteed 75% performance ratio and 13 to 15% capacity utilization factor annually.

For the contract value up to ₹1 million (~$13,449), the work should commence within ten days of issuance of the work order or handing over the site, whichever is later. For the contract value of more than ₹1 million, the work should commence from the next day of execution of the agreement or handing over of site, whichever is later.

This year, Coal India Limited announced forming two wholly-owned subsidiaries for undertaking solar photovoltaic manufacturing and renewable energy projects. While CIL Solar PV Limited has been incorporated for manufacturing in the solar value chain (ingot-wafer-cell-module), CIL Navikarniya Urja Limited has been formed for renewable energy projects.

In December last year, Mahanadi Coalfields had issued a tender to set up 1.21 MW of solar rooftop systems on its various administrative buildings.

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