The West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) has retendered a 10 MW grid‑connected solar photovoltaic (PV) project to be developed in Bhajanghat in the state’s Nadia district.

The bid-submission deadline is July 18, 2018.

The tender was initially issued by WBREDA in January 2018.

The project will be developed on a turnkey basis and the scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning.

The successful bidder will be responsible for providing a project warranty as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) services for five years. The estimated cost of the project is ₹507 million (~$7.93 million).

The completion timeline for the project is one year from the date the Letter of Award (LoA) is issued.

When contacted, a WBREDA official told Mercom, “When we had tendered the capacity in January 2018, only two bidders had come forward, that’s why we have retendered the capacity.”

When asked if there are any amendments to the tender document, the WBREDA official said, “Now the bids can only be submitted online, there will be no offline submission and the other change is that the financial criteria for participation has been eased, this will allow many more bidders to participate.”

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, West Bengal has an installed solar capacity of just 64 MW. The state also has approximately 46 MW of solar projects in the pipeline.

West Bengal is one of lesser developed solar states in India. Considering its size, the state is yet to attract meaningful investments into solar projects.