The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids to select land banks and parcels to set up a 100 MW solar project in Chhattisgarh.

The last date to submit the bids is May 31, 2021.

The nodal agency intends to develop a 100 MW solar project (with at least 50 MW at a single location) for South Eastern Coalfields Limited in Chhattisgarh.

For the project to take shape, SECI requires nearly 4,000 acres of land (a minimum of 200 acres plot at one location). To that end, SECI has invited bids from private landowners, farmers, cooperative societies, and land aggregators who are willing to sell their lands on an outright basis or a long-term lease (30 years) anywhere in Chhattisgarh.

The shortlisted land should meet the following criteria:

• The 400 acres of the continuous land parcel should be at a single location and preferably within 10 km from any existing 220 kV or 132 kV state transmission utility (STU) substation.
• A minimum of 200 acres of continuous land parcel at two different locations (cumulatively 400 acres) should preferably be within 5 km from any existing 220 kV or 132 kV STU substation.

The proposed solar project will be set up at locations that will be identified, acquired, and purchased by the contractor and transferred in the employer’s name as per the provisions of the land transfer details.

As per the bidding document, preference will be given to land banks, parcels based on the distance to the substation, availability of land bank as a single connected patch, water availability, topography, forest land, transmission lines within land bank, wildlife protected areas, and road connectivity, among others.

In January this year, SECI once again extended the bid submission deadline for the 100 MW of solar projects along with a 40MW/120 MWh battery energy storage system. The project is to be developed in the Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.

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