Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), an Indian engineering and manufacturing enterprise has invited bids for consulting firms to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on the solar photovoltaics (PV) manufacturing value chain.

The scope of work includes conducting consulting engagement activities like market research, sectoral assessment, market entry strategy, business modeling, and feasibility studies. Selected bidders must prepare a DPR for manufacturing in the entire solar PV value chain – quartz mining, polysilicon, ingots, wafer, cells, and modules.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently announced basic customs duty on imported solar cells and modules starting April 1, 2022. The objective of the duty is to promote domestic manufacturing of solar components.

BHEL said it is currently exploring opportunities in the solar manufacturing domain to help reduce India’s dependence on imports and to support the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat program. It needs consultants to identify opportunities in entering, expanding, or backward integrating into the PV manufacturing sector.

Bidders are not required to submit an earnest money deposit. The last date for the submission of bids is April 9, 2021.

To be eligible to participate in the competitive bidding process, applicants must have had an annual turnover of at least ₹3 million (~$41,314) from consulting work in the last three years.

Bidders must have previously completed three similar works worth not less than ₹4 million (~$55,085) each, two similar ones worth ₹5 million (~$68,856) each, or one similar work worth at least ₹8 million (~$110,170) in the last seven years.

BHEL currently has a solar portfolio of over 1.2 GW of projects including, ground-mounted, rooftop, canal top, floating solar systems, among others, according to its website. It has a cell manufacturing capacity of 100 MW and a module-making capacity of 226 MW.

The lack of adequate solar manufacturing capacity has been holding down the Indian solar sector for a while now. This may change soon thanks to the central government’s latest’ production-linked incentive’ plan, which has allocated ₹1.45 trillion (~$19.61 billion) to ten critical sectors in the country over the next five years.

Mercom’s flagship event Mercom India Solar Summit, to be held virtually on April 8th and 9th, has an exclusive session to discuss ‘Solar Modules to Make or Not to Make in India?’. You can click here to register for the event. The discussion will revolve around how Indian manufacturers are gearing up to set up new production units backed by duties and a production-linked incentive program.