NLC India Limited (NLCIL), a public sector undertaking, has invited bids for the setting up of a 10 MW (AC) grid-connected captive solar power project at Neyveli thermal station under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode.  A captive project implies that the power is consumed where it is generated.

The scope of work includes the design, engineering, manufacture, supply, installation, and commissioning of the 10 MW (AC) grid-connected captive solar power project at Neyveli.

The last date to submit the bids is January 11, 2021, and the pre-bid meeting will take place on December 23, 2020.

The project should be completed within eight months from the date of the issuance of the letter of award (LoA).

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹2.1 million (~$28,474) as the bid guarantee amount.

To participate in the competitive bidding process, the bidder should have executed works of similar nature within the last seven years. The bidder should have completed one similar project of at least ₹160.7 million (~$2.2 million), two similar projects of value of each not less than ₹100.5 million (~$1.36 million), and three similar works of at least ₹80.4 million (~$1.09 million) each.

The bidder can also be the leader of a consortium consisting of not more than two firms, such that together they meet the qualifying requirements mentioned above.

Regarding the financial criteria, the bidder should have a positive net worth. If the bidder is a joint venture company, each of the said joint venture company promoters should have a positive net worth as per their latest audited financial statements.

The bidder’s average annual turnover should not be less than ₹60 million (~$813,567) for taking up the 10 MW project in the last three financial years. In the case of a consortium, the combined average annual turnover of the consortium partners should not be less than ₹60 million (~$813,567) in the previous three financial years.

According to the tender documents, only Class-I local suppliers will be eligible to participate in the bidding process. The local content requirement to categorize a supplier as Class-I is a minimum of 50%.

NLC India emerged as one of the top utility-scale solar project developers in India in the first half of the calendar year 2020.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, NLC India has so far floated tenders for 2.05 GW of large-scale solar power projects.

In September, it submitted its annual report for 2019-20, which said that with the commissioning of the entire 709 MW solar project in Tamil Nadu, it became the first central public service enterprise to have installed a solar project capacity of more than 1 GW.