The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued an expression of interest for sourcing land to set up solar projects for the solarization of agricultural feeders in Uttar Pradesh.

The last date to submit the bids is October 7, 2021, and bids will be opened on October 8. The pre-bid meeting will take place on September 17.

The proposed solar project is to be set up at the designated locations in Uttar Pradesh, which will be identified, leased or acquired and purchased by the selected solar power developers.

The bidder should have legal ownership of the land. The land should be under the legal and physical possession of the applicant. The minimum size of land offered should be four acres (assuming at the rate of 4 acres/MW) at a single location in the vicinity of a particular distribution company (DISCOM) substation. The land should be easily accessible by road. In case of lease, the tenure for lease will be 30 years from the date of signing the lease agreement.

Also, the land should be free from all encumbrances and should be not in or within the prohibited range of any wildlife area, forest area, or defense establishment.

The applicant can offer land at a single location or locations adjacent to each other under one substation or multiple locations under different substations in the same or different districts. The total land cost plus the construction cost of the transmission line from the land to the DISCOM substation will determine bid evaluation.

The developer may reserve the right to accept or reject the site offered by the applicant based on the above due diligence, or as per its requirements. The applicant will be allowed to offer land (in multiples of 4 acres) at a single location or locations adjacent to each other under one substation or multiple locations under different substations in the same or different districts.

In May this year, SECI invited bids to select land banks and parcels to set up a 100 MW solar project in Chhattisgarh. SECI invited bids from private landowners, farmers, cooperative societies, and land aggregators who are willing to sell their lands outright or a long-term lease (30 years) anywhere in Chhattisgarh.

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