The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)  has extended the bid submission deadline yet again for setting up of 10 GW of  ISTS connected solar PV power projects linked with 3 GW (per annum) solar manufacturing capacity.

Mercom reported previously that the first bid submission deadline was extended from August 27, 2018 to September 27, 2018.

The new bid submission deadline is October 12, 2018 and techno-commercial bid will open on October 15, 2018.

On the yet other extension of the bid submission deadline, a SECI official told Mercom, “Yes, we have extended the bid because the developers wanted some more time.”

When contacted, an executive at one of India’s largest renewable energy conglomerate said,” If the extension was done at the behest of developers, why upload the extended timeline on the same evening and why the agency did not wait till the next working day. Why the hurry?”

According to Mercom’s market source, there are no takers for the current tender. Big players like Tata, Adani, Soft Bank have stayed away from it.

One of the developers told Mercom, “The intent from the government to bring this tender to fruition is lacking. Now this is the third time, the bid submission deadline has been extended.”

Per an Indian module manufacturer, most domestic manufacturers don’t have the wherewithal to participate in this tender. This is only meant for the big fish and small fry will stay away.

In May 2018, SECI had tendered 5 GW of manufacturing capacity to be set up across the country. The manufacturing capacity was to be linked to ISTS-connected solar projects for an aggregate capacity of 10 GW.

However, recently, SECI announced that it has reduced the capacity of the manufacturing tender from 5 GW to 3 GW. The minimum capacity developers can bid for manufacturing has also been reduced from 1 GW to 600 MW.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer