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					</table><p>Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology (<a href="https://mahapreit.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MAHAPREIT</a>) has invited bids to select a project management consultant for renewable energy projects in Goa.</p>
<p>The scope of work includes preparing detailed project reports for 30 MW rooftop solar projects on government buildings and installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at 30 locations across Goa. The work must be completed within 12 months.</p>
<p>The last date for submitting bids is April 3, 2024. Bids will be opened on the same day.</p>
<p>The successful bidder will conduct site surveys, design the systems, estimate project costs, and assess financial feasibility.</p>
<p>Additionally, the consultant will be required to provide bid advisory services, including finalizing project specifications, preparing bid documents, and assisting in the bid evaluation process. The agency will also oversee project management, compliance management, performance testing, and commissioning of renewable energy systems.</p>
<p>Bidders must submit ₹10,000 (~$122) plus 18% GST as the cost of the bid document and an earnest money deposit of ₹250,000 (~$3,000).</p>
<p>Bidders must have an average annual turnover of ₹25 million (~$ 300,000) with a positive net worth during the preceding three financial years.</p>
<p>Firms must have undertaken projects of similar nature and scale and possess expertise in engineering, policy, and business knowledge related to decentralized solar power plants and EV charging infrastructure. They should also have an established presence in Goa, with staff well-versed in local languages like Konkani and Marathi.</p>
<p>The chosen bidder cannot employ individuals previously under contract and who had worked for MAHAPREIT.</p>
<p>Additionally, the chosen bidder cannot subcontract or outsource any aspect of the specified work to an agency designated by MAHAPREIT, nor can it sublet the assigned tasks. Failure to disclose such affiliations may result in the termination of the agency.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the Goa Energy Development Agency <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/goa-bids-30-mw-rooftop-solar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> bids to commission 30 MW of rooftop solar projects on government buildings through the renewable energy service company model.</p>
<p>In his budget announcement in March 2023, the state’s chief minister <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/goas-budget-green-hydrogen-ammonia-facilities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> installing 25-30 MW of solar power projects on all government buildings, stadiums, sports complexes, market complexes, and educational institutions.</p>
<p>Subscribe to Mercom’s <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a> for timely updates on all solar tenders issued by various agencies in India.</p>


MAHAPREIT Floats Consultancy Tender for Renewable Energy Projects in Goa


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					</table><p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/budget-2024-free-electricity-rooftop-solar-vgf-offshore-wind" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled key measures during the presentation of the 2024 interim budget, signaling a significant push towards sustainable energy and electric mobility.</strong></a> One of the standout announcements involves providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month to 10 million households through rooftop solarization. This move aims not only to make clean energy accessible to a large segment of the population but also to encourage the widespread adoption of solar power.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/servotech-contract-deploy-1800-ev-chargers-bpcl" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Servotech Power Systems, an electric vehicle (EV) charger and energy efficiency products manufacturer has won an order for 1,800 DC Fast EV Chargers to be installed across India</strong></a> from government-owned oil and gas major Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The order is valued at ₹1.2 billion (~$14.46 million) and encompasses the installation and commissioning of two charger variants, 60 kW and 120 kW in the 70:30 ratio.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/sales-volume-amara-rajas-q3-profits-up-15" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Amara Raja Energy &amp; Mobility recorded a net profit of ₹2.55 billion (~$30.7 million) during the third quarter of the financial year 2024, a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 14.8%,</strong></a> primarily driven by the increased sales volumes of automotive batteries in both domestic and international markets. During the quarter, the company posted revenue of ₹30.68 billion (~$369.7 million), a YoY increase of 15% from ₹26.64 billion (~$321 million) fueled by the increased demand for lead-acid batteries.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/jabalpur-municipal-tender-for-10-mw-solar-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Municipal Corporation of Jabalpur has invited proposals from eligible consultants to set up 10 MW solar projects under captive/net metering mode to supply power to its high-tension connections.</strong></a> The last date for submitting bids is February 29, 2024. Bids will be opened on March 1. The corporation is responsible for supplying water to residents within its jurisdiction and operates multiple water pumping stations equipped with electrical connections at 132/33 or 11 kV Voltage. The corporation aims to transition to solar energy, within the existing regulations, to meet its electrical energy needs as much as possible.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/thdc-issues-floating-solar-park-in-karnataka" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>THDC India has invited bids from consultants for the preparation of a detailed project report and bathymetric survey of a 100 MW floating solar power project at the Kadra Dam reservoir in Karnataka</strong></a>. The last date for submission of bids is September 15, 2024. Bids will be opened the next day. The study’s scope encompasses an in-depth project report, incorporating an evaluation of suitability, engineering surveys, cost estimates, and assessments of technical, economic, and financial viability for solar power projects.</p>


Daily News Wrap-Up: Budget 2024 Highlights


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					</table><p>Total investment in electric vehicle chargers is set to cross $100 billion in 2023, and the next $100 billion of spending is expected to be achieved within the next three years, a new <a href="https://about.bnef.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BloombergNEF</a> study found.</p>
<p>Annual spending on electric vehicle charging infrastructure almost doubled to $62 billion during the previous year.</p>
<p>There are currently more than 12 million active EV plug points globally, with the number of home chargers exceeding public chargers.</p>
<p>That is expected to soar as the adoption of EVs increases.</p>
<p>The report said the charging market reflects the EV market, where China and Europe are in the lead.</p>
<p>This is followed by the United States, which recently announced $7.5 billion of government funds for charging infrastructure under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.</p>
<p><strong>Notable Announcements</strong></p>
<p>The report mentions the top companies contributing to the growing EV charger market.</p>
<p>Mercedes-Benz announced plans for a network of 10,000 ultra-fast chargers last week, and the automaker would start with the U.S. for the initial set of installations.</p>
<p>ChargePoint in the U.S. leads the charging infrastructure market, while Tesla dominates the country’s EV market with fast and ultra-fast chargers.</p>
<p>The European market is more balanced, with a narrower gap between the top three EV charging operators than in the U.S.</p>
<p>“The U.S. market is picking up steam, while the European market is much more mature, with some consolidation potential,” said Ryan Fisher, BNEF’s lead EV charging analyst.</p>
<p>Automakers, oil companies, utilities, supermarkets, and pure-play charging companies are all racing to build, scale, and profit from a business that could one day be as ubiquitous as gas stations are right now.</p>
<p>Shell aims to have 2.5 million EV chargers operational by 2030, many of which would be fast chargers that can add 100 kilometers worth of driving distance in just five minutes.</p>
<p>In India, where EV adoption has been on the rise, EV sales <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ev-sales-clocked-record-one-million-units-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached</a> a record one million units in 2022, a jump of over 300% against the 322,877 units sold in 2021.</p>
<p>The country so far <a href="https://mercomindia.com/two-and-three-wheelers-dominate-indias-registered-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> 5,151 operational EV charging stations.</p>
<p>Early last year, the Ministry of Power (MoP) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ministry-of-power-guidelines-ev-charging-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> the revised ‘Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EVs) Guidelines’ to accelerate the e-mobility transition in the country. The guidelines aim to enable faster EV adoption in India by ensuring safe, reliable, accessible, and affordable charging infrastructure and ecosystem.</p>
<p>In September 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ev-charging-infrastructure-75000-miles-highways-u-s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans for all 50 States covering approximately 75,000 miles of highway across the country. With the approval, all States gained access to $1.5 billion under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.</p>


Electric Vehicle Chargers Spending to Hit $200 Billion by 2026: BNEF

<p>The electronics manufacturing division of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (<a href="https://hal-india.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HAL</a>) has issued a Request for Information (RfI) to identify a potential Indian entity for business cooperation in the electric vehicle (EV) charging business.</p>
<p>The exercise aims to find the right partner to explore the emerging EV charging business area in the upcoming EV market.</p>
<p>The last date for submission of the RfI proposal is November 22, 2019.</p>
<p>As per the RfI document, the applicant should have the technical know-how and should be in the business of EV charging. The successful business entity should also be willing to transfer the intellectual property rights of the developed product to HAL.</p>
<p>The project is expected to be completed within three to four months from the date of signing the transfer of manufacturing technology (ToT) contract. The prototype development will take place within three to four months of the signing of the development contract.</p>
<p>The selected Indian entity would need to share the technology of EV charging if already developed or else provide technical expertise and know-how for the joint development of EV charging infrastructure.</p>
<p>The scope of work includes providing the EV charging hardware and software development, communication protocols, cloud support, power handling, installation and certifications, and approvals from the Automotive Research Association of India (<a href="https://www.araiindia.com/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ARAI</a>).</p>
<p>The EV charger should also be compatible with CHAdeMO connector, CCS Connector, Type 2 AC, Bharat DC-001, and Bharat AC-001 standards.</p>
<p>India is at the cusp of a EV revolution, and over the past year, the domestic market has seen a slew of activity in both EV and EV charging segments.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the  <a href="https://dhi.nic.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Heavy Industry</a> (DHI) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/government-proposals-ev-charging/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">invited</a> proposals for deploying electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the country’s big and smart cities under the government’s FAME program. The cities have been categorized as million-plus cities, smart cities, satellite towns connected to metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad.</p>
<p>Then in July 2019, the government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gst-electric-vehicle-reduced-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduced</a> the applicable rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on electric vehicles (EVs). The 36<sup>th</sup> GST Council meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, decided that the GST rate on all the electric vehicles be reduced from 12% to 5%. Moreover, the GST rates on chargers or charging stations for EVs have been reduced from 18% to 5%.</p>
<p>Previously, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eesl-floats-tender-200-electric-vehicle-fast-chargers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that the government’s Energy Efficiency Services Limited (<a href="https://www.eeslindia.org/content/raj/eesl/en/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EESL</a>) had issued a tender for 200 fast chargers along with three years’ on-site warranty and annual maintenance contract.</p>


Hindustan Aeronautics Seeks a Partner to Foray into EV Charging Business

<p>Energy Efficiency Services Limited (<a href="https://eeslindia.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EESL</a>), a joint venture of the public-sector units of the Ministry of Power and the Government of India, has scrapped the second tender to procure 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) to be used by government departments and agencies.</p>
<p>EESL had issued the tender for procurement in <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eesl-issues-tender-10000-evs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 2018</a>.</p>
<p>The reason this tender had to be scrapped was because it had specifications for EVs in luxury bracket and the Bharat EV Charger is not compatible with high-end vehicle specifications. The government is still working on the specifications for EV chargers in India, resulting in the scrapping of the tender.</p>
<p>When contacted, an official in EESL’s e-mobility wing said, “Yes, the tender has been scrapped, but we will reissue it within a month or so.” For the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eesl-issues-indias-first-ever-tender-procure-10000-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first tender</a>, there were only two manufacturers that participated, and EESL <a href="https://mercomindia.com/tata-motors-rolls-first-batch-evs-eesl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">awarded</a> the contracts to create demand and an initial market”.</p>
<p>“For this tender, there were specifications for high-end cars too that would run than 140 km with a single charge. Such cars require different sort of chargers. In India, we have Bharat EV Chargers, and that will not be compatible with all cars. Government is still working on setting standards for EV charging. Once the new set of standards for EV charging is issued, we (EESL) will revise the request for selection (RfS) accordingly and issue a new tender for 10,000 EVs,” added the EESL official.</p>
<p>The EESL official also said, “In the initial tender, there was space for only three winners, L1, L2, L3. In that scenario, L2 and L3 were supposed to match the L1 price and the contracts would be awarded amongst three firms. Now, the tender will have two specifications, one for EVs up to 140 km range and the second for EVs of range above 140 km (luxury EVs), three winners for each specification. In all there will be six participants, more competition and better technologies.”</p>
<p>Manufacturers have become familiar with the Indian EV sector for a year now and are aware of the requirements of the market. Soon, we expect to have competent original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) participating in the tender that is likely to be announced in a month or two.</p>


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