The Jaipur Division of North Western Railways has floated a tender to  empanel agencies to implement 1 MW rooftop solar power projects on a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer basis.

The last date for the submission of bids is December 29, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The project aims to produce and distribute power through rooftop solar systems, where the selected project developer will be accountable for the design, engineering, procurement, construction, erection (including civil and structural works), installation, testing, and commissioning of the solar systems.

This responsibility extends to the systems’ operation and maintenance for 25 years following project commissioning.

The selected developer must enter into a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Railways. The developer may be mandated to sign the PPA at the divisional level, as needed by the production units or zonal railways.

The cost of the bid document inclusive of GST is ₹34,810 (~$417.5), and bidders also have to pay an earnest money deposit of ₹1.07 million (~$12,834)/MW.

The successful bidder is required to provide a performance guarantee amount of ₹1.62 million (~$19,431)/MW to the zonal railways within 30 days of signing the PPA.

The current tender does not include the provision of Central Financial Assistance.

Project completion time will be 240 days from the effective date.

The developers are expected to install rooftop solar systems under two categories – (i) >10 kW and up to 100 kW and (ii) >100 kW and up to 500 kW.

Under category one, the developer must install systems with an aggregate capacity of 50 kW at the Headquarters Construction Office at Jagatpura. Bidders selected under the second category must install rooftop solar systems with 950 kW aggregate capacity at the Getor Jagatpura and Khatipura railway stations in the Jaipur division.

Bidders must have experience installing a minimum total capacity of 200 kW for grid-connected solar rooftop systems in developer or EPC mode. This experience should be directly attributable to the bidder and completed before the deadline for submitting the technical bid.

Alternatively, bidders should have experience installing and commissioning a minimum total capacity of 1,000 kW for any grid-connected systems in developer or EPC mode.

This experience should be directly attributable to the bidder and completed in any sector, including residential, social, industrial, commercial, government, or other, before the scheduled date for the technical bid submission.

The interested bidder should have an average turnover of ₹15 million (~$179,911) per year over the last three financial years. Additionally, the bidder must demonstrate a positive net worth in the last three financial years.

Recently, North Central Railways invited bids for state-wise empanelment of agencies to implement grid-connected rooftop solar power projects of 5.5 MW capacity.

Subscribe to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker for timely updates on all solar tenders issued by various agencies in India.