The Jabalpur Division of the West Central Railway has invited bids for state-wise empanelment of agencies to implement 12 MW grid-connected rooftop solar projects in Jabalpur and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Kota in Rajasthan.

The last date for submission of bids is February 9, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The duration of the empanelment will be one year from the date of issue of the letter of award.

Each bidder is required to pay ₹34,810 (~$425) as the cost of the bid document.

The successful bidder is required to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) and undertake operations and maintenance of the project for 25 years.

Further, the successful bidder must furnish ₹1.6 million (~$19,563)/MW as performance security within 30 days of signing the PPA.

The tender terms dictate that the project developers will supply power solely to the zonal railways through a net metering system.

Further, provisions of net metering as per prevailing norms and regulations of the respective states or as mutually decided between Zonal Railways and SPD will be part of PPA.

Additionally, the successful bidder must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹1.07 million (~$13,080)/MW.

The bidder is required to submit a state-wise bid where it proposes to sell power. Bids for part capacity would be rejected.

Project completion time is set at 240 days from the effective date.

The projects are divided into two categories: rooftop projects with a capacity of more than 10 kW and up to 100 kW. And larger projects with 100 kW to 500 kW capacity.

Eligibility criteria for the bidders include experience in installing a minimum aggregate of 200 kW capacity of grid-connected solar rooftop systems in developer or EPC mode before the scheduled date of submission of the technical bid.

Alternatively, bidders should have installed and commissioned a minimum aggregate of 1,000 kW capacity of any grid-connected systems in developer or EPC mode in residential, social, industrial, commercial, and government projects.

The average turnover of the interested bidder during the last 3 financial years should be ₹15 million (~183,386) per year. Bidders must have a positive net worth in all the last three financial years.

The Eastern Railways earlier this month invited bids to install 1.9 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems across multiple sites in the Sealdah Division of West Bengal.

In December last year, Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnav informed the Lok Sabha that Indian Railways will work towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and is committed to 100% electrification of the broad gauge railway network.