The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a letter to the bidders for its 97.5 MW rooftop solar tender for government buildings under the CAPEX and RESCO model, asking the bidders to conduct due diligence of the zone-wise lowest project cost/fixed tariff discovered in the bidding and give their consent for matching the lowest bid (L1).

This clause about all other bidders matching the lowest bid was made clear in the request for selection (RfS) document.

The bidders should send the consent for matching with the L1 price by January 8, 2020. If the bidder fails to do so, it will be assumed that the bidder is not ready to match the L1 price and SECI will award the contracts based on the consent received within the deadline.

The document further adds that matching the L1 bid for project cost or fixed tariff doesn’t guarantee the allocation of the capacity to the bidder. The final allocation of capacity will be decided as per the guidelines mentioned in the RfS document. The zone-wise tariffs are mentioned below:

The total capacity of 97.5 MW is divided into three categories. The first category is for 10 MW comprising of CAPEX Model (Part-A), the second is 85 MW consisting of RESCO Model (Part-B), and the third is 2.5 MW comprising of CAPEX Model (Part-C).

SECI had reissued the tender for 97.5 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems for government buildings in various states and union territories in August 2019.

This tender has seen multiple deadline extensions amid inadequate bidder participation. The request for selection was first issued in February last year with a bid submission deadline of March 27, 2019. Another reason for reissuing the tender was that the updates were delayed due to the change of portal from TCIL (Telecommunications Consultants India) to the Bharat tender portal.

The incentives for the different zones were also announced in the RfS document provided the installations are on central, state or local government office buildings and government institutions such as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), all buildings of societies, companies, corporations, educational and health institutions. The incentive structure is as listed:

The incentives would be calculated based on the benchmark cost as on the date of issuance of the letter of award (LoA). The modules should be manufactured in India only.

The capacity allotted for different zones is listed:

According to Mercom India Research’s Q3 2019 India Solar Market Update, the country has crossed 4 GW of cumulative rooftop solar installations and achieved only 10% of its target of 40 GW by 2022. This auction is a much-needed boost of rooftop solar segment.