Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids for the design, engineering, construction, erection, testing, and commissioning of a 5 MW grid-connected saffron-based agro solar power project in the Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir. The successful bidder will also have to take care of the operation and maintenance activities of the project for ten years.

The saffron-based agro solar project is a first-of-its-kind project where the land for the solar project will also be used to cultivate saffron.

The last date to submit the bids is April 19, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹4.7 million (~$61,369) as an earnest money deposit. The successful bidder will have to furnish an amount equivalent to 4% of the contract value as the contract performance security.

The project must be completed within 12 months from the date of the issuance of the letter of award.

SECI has stated that bidders should take note of the imposition of the basic customs duty (BCD) from April 1, 2022, and bid accordingly. The imposition of BCD will not be considered under the ‘Change in Law’ clause.

Also, purchase preference will be given to local manufacturers. Only Class-I local suppliers will be eligible to bid in this tender. Class-I local suppliers are those whose goods, services, or works offered have local content equal to or more than 50%.

Regarding the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM), SECI has stated that the cells and modules to be used in this project should be sourced only from the models and manufacturers included in the List-I of the ALMM order.

The bidders can participate in the tender thorugh Route I or Route II.

For participating through Route I, the bidder should have experience in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of ground-mounted solar projects on a turnkey basis of cumulative capacity not less than 3 MW in the last seven financial years as on the bid submission date. However, such grid-connected solar projects must have been in satisfactory operation for at least six months before the bid submission date.

Out of the capacity mentioned above, the bidder should have experience in EPC execution of at least two ground-mounted solar projects having an individual capacity of 500 kW or above in the last seven years. Such solar projects should have been in successful operation for at least six months as of the bid submission date.

For participating through Route II, the bidder should have experience executing ground-mounted solar projects as a developer of cumulative capacity not less than 3 MW in the last seven financial years as of the bid submission date. However, such grid-connected solar projects must have been in satisfactory operation for at least six months as of the bid submission deadline.

Out of the capacity mentioned above, the bidder should have experience in executing ground-mounted solar projects as a developer of at least two solar projects having an individual capacity of 500 kW or above in the last seven years. However, such projects must have been in operation as prescribed for at least six months as of the bid submission day.

The minimum average annual turnover of the bidder in the last three financial years should be ₹95 million (~$1.24 million). The bidder’s net worth for the last financial year should be positive.

As per the last audited financial statement, the bidder should have a minimum working capital of ₹60 million (~$783,444).

If the contractor fails to comply with the time for the successful commissioning of the project in accordance with timelines, then the contractor will have to pay the owner a sum equivalent to 0.5% per week of the contract value as liquidated damages.

In January 2021, SECI had issued a similar tender. The tender was for 50 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) project, including a 10 MW agro-PV component in Tamil Nadu.

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