Monday, June 10, 2013: The Madhya Pradesh state government’s solar power project has received a luke warm response by the private generators. The reason for this is the low price fixed by the government. The group of ministers had come to the purchase price of Rs 6.49 per unit after a series of discussions.
The solar power project is aimed at producing 1000 MW of power. Among the 184 bidders who were technically qualified to set up solar power plants, only seven have agreed to set up plants. To comply with the set rate this will be of a very small capacity i.e 53 MW. To counter this setback, the state government has extended the time frame for accepting the offer.
As a result of further negotiations, 27 bidders have proposed to set up the solar power plants but with certain conditions. These conditions include changes in the location of the solar power plant and its capacity.
In a bid to attract more bidders, the state government has decided to increase the purchase rate, provided it is done at a later date. Despite all these efforts, there is still a long haul to reach even the half-way mark. A total of 34 bidders will be setting up plants which will generate about 350 MW.
