West Central Railway has invited bids for state-wise empanelment of agencies to implement rooftop solar projects of 12.5 MW at various locations in Jabalpur, Bhopal, and Kota zones.

The projects would be developed in two capacity ranges— more than 10 kW and up to 100 kW, and more than 100 kW and up to 500 kW.

The projects must be commissioned within 240 days of receiving the work order. The developers must also provide comprehensive operation and maintenance services for 25 years.

The last day to submit the bids is April 25, 2023. The bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹1.07 million (~$13,016)/ MW. The selected bidders must submit a performance security of ₹1.6 million (~$19,464)/ MW within 30 days of signing the power purchase agreement (PPA).

The successful bidders must provide a bid process management fee of ₹75,000 (~$912)/ MW of the awarded capacity within 30 days of signing the PPA.

The empanelment duration will be one year from the work order. Upon completion, the empanelment may be extended for another year based on agency performance and requests from West Central  Railway.

The generated solar power will be utilized solely through the net metering system by the Railways.

The successful bidder for each capacity and range for each state will be evaluated independently.

Bidders must have experience in successfully installing a minimum aggregate 200 kW capacity of grid-connected solar rooftop systems in Developer or engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode before the bid submission deadline.

Bidders with experience in installing and commissioning a minimum aggregate 1 MW capacity of any grid-connected systems in developer or EPC mode in any sector such as residential, social, industrial, commercial, government, or any other client can also submit bids.

They must have had an average turnover of ₹15 million (~$182,493) per year during the last three years. They should also have had a positive net worth in all the last three financial years.

The successful bidder must sign a PPA for 25 years with the railways.

Recently, South Eastern Railway invited bids for state-wise empanelment of agencies for the implementation of rooftop solar projects of 2.3447 MW in Odisha and 1.4738 MW in Jharkhand.

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