The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has indefinitely extended the bid-submission deadline for the development of 200 MW (AC) of solar projects under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category in the state of Madhya Pradesh. SECI had tendered the projects on behalf of Coal India Limited (CIL).

The capacity was tendered by SECI in October 2017. The project was to be developed at the Neemuch-Mandsaur Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh comprising two blocks of 100 MW each. One 100 MW block was to be developed for Northern Coalfields Limited and the other 100 MW block for Southeastern Coalfields Limited, both are subsidiaries of CIL.

This is an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) tender and the scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, supply of equipment and materials, testing at manufacturers works, multi-level inspections, packing and forwarding, supply, receipt, unloading and storage at site, associated civil works, services, permits, licenses, installation and incidentals, insurance at all stages, installation, testing, and commissioning of the grid-connected solar project.

When contacted, a SECI official told Mercom, “This capacity was auctioned in October last year, there has been very less interest for this project among the developers, so we decided to put this one on hold.”

When asked whether it evinced negligent response since this was a DCR category tender, the SECI official said, “This project will be owned by CIL, which is a CPSU, so there is no clash with WTO rules. Moreover, this is an EPC tender, so we cannot say if being a DCR tender has affected its eligibility in the eyes of the contractors.”

Previously, Mercom also reported that SECI postponed bid-submission deadlines for 5 GW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connectivity solar tenders considering the request of solar project developers.

Image credit: Technique Solaire