In 2025, tender announcements for utility-scale solar projects declined to nearly 44 GW, down 45% from 2024, according to Mercom India Research. During the year, around 20 GW of projects were auctioned, a 57% decline compared to 2024.

Solar tender and auction activity declined in 2025 as state DISCOMs showed limited appetite for signing new long-term solar PPAs amid falling daytime power prices and a backlog of awarded solar and wind capacity awaiting power sale agreements. Procurement increasingly shifted toward round-the-clock and storage-linked tenders, reducing the share of standalone solar auctions. Bid participation also weakened due to low tariff ceilings, curtailment risks, uncertainty over domestic content requirements, and delays in land and transmission availability, leading several developers to prioritize completing ongoing projects over bidding for new capacity.

 

Standalone solar projects accounted for 81.8% of total tendered capacity in 2025. Solar-plus-storage and floating solar followed with 15.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Wind-solar hybrid projects contributed 0.9%, while other solar project categories accounted for less than 1%.

Mercom India’s tender and auction tracking covers large-scale standalone solar projects and wind-solar hybrid power projects. For wind-solar hybrid power tenders, the solar capacity is calculated as 67% of the total tendered hybrid power capacity when specific solar capacities are not mentioned.

The top five agencies accounted for 51% of the utility-scale solar projects tendered in 2025.

Major Tenders in 2025

• Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam (MPUVNL) issued a tender to develop 1,500 MW solar projects under Component C of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) program in Madhya Pradesh, which was later revised to 4,300 MW, making it one of the largest utility-scale solar tenders issued in 2025.
• Maharashtra State Electricity Board Solar Agro Power invited bids to develop and supply 3.43 GW of solar power from 509 projects under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana (MSKVY) 2.0.
• Coal India issued an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) tender on a turnkey basis to develop 3,000 MW of grid-connected solar power projects across India.
• Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam (JdVVNL) invited bids to develop a cumulative 2,360.5 MW of solar power projects under the renewable energy service model as part of Component A of the PM KUSUM program.
• The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) issued a tender to develop 2,000 MW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar power projects along with 1,000 MW/4,000 MWh of energy storage systems.
• Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) invited bids to set up 2 GW of solar power projects in the Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Jhansi, and Lalitpur districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Major Auctions in 2025

• Dilip Buildcon, Sunbridge Solar Power, Landsmill Industries, Purshotam Profiles, Ceigall India, and 77 other companies won 01 GW out of MPUVNL’s 4.3 GW solar auction to develop projects under Component C of the PM KUSUM program.
• Eleven companies won SECI’s Tranche XX auction to set up 2,000 MW ISTS -connected solar projects, along with 1,000 MW/4,000 MWh energy storage systems.
• NTPC Renewable Energy, ReNew Solar Power, Fastnote Biofuels (Hindustan Power), and Adani Renewable Energy Holding Twelve declared winners in Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation’s auction to set up 2 GW solar power projects.
• Reliance Infrastructure, JBM Renewables, PNC Infratech, SAEL Industries, and Navayuga Engineering Company won NHPC’s 1.2 GW auction (Tranche-XI) to set up ISTS -connected solar power projects with 600 MW/2,400 MWh energy storage systems.
• Onix Renewable, Jindal India Renewable Energy, NTPC Renewable Energy, Kolar Solar Power (Rays Power Infra), ReNew Solar Power, and Adani Renewable Energy Holding Nine (Adani Green) won NHPC’s auction to set up 1,200 MW ISTS -connected solar power projects with 600 MW/1,200 MWh energy storage systems.

Tenders and Auction activity in Q4 2025

Various agencies floated tenders for nearly 3 GW of utility-scale solar projects in Q4 2025. The tender announcements fell 75.4% YoY and 83.7% QoQ. In Q4 2025, about 7 GW of solar projects were auctioned, down 22.8% YoY and up 268.5% QoQ.

Tendering activity declined in Q4 CY 2025 as procurement agencies focused on clearing a backlog of previously awarded projects, a slowdown further reinforced by an MNRE-directed clean-up of the project pipeline. SECI, NTPC, NHPC, and SJVN were instructed to close legacy bids and cancel projects that failed to secure power purchase or power sale agreements by the end of November 2025, affecting around 42 GW of capacity. While MNRE clarified that projects without power sale agreements would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the exercise temporarily constrained new tender activity. The decline was also driven by unsigned PPAs, weak DISCOM offtake demand, and increased caution amid policy and market uncertainties, including grid readiness and the growing shift toward hybrid and storage-linked tenders.

Although auctioned capacity increased in Q4, the number of auctions remained almost the same as in the previous quarter.

 

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