Tuesday, October 08, 2013: India has reportedly invited bids for building 750 megawatts (MWs) of solar plants. This is its first national auction since 2011 where it will be granting about Rs 18.75 billion ($303 million).
The last date for the bid is 29 November and the tender documents will be made available starting 14 October, as stated on Solar Energy Corp’s official website. As part of the submission, developers are supposed to submit bids stating the funds they are seeking. The lowest bidders will win.
According to a Live Mint report, the government grants will cover as much as 30 per cent of the project cost.
Companies such as Welspun Group, backed by Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management LLC, and billionaire Vinod Khosla’s Sunborne Energy Holdings LLC have built nearly 2,000 MWs of solar capacity and cut average costs by more than half since India began auctioning licenses through its National Solar Mission in 2010, the report further added.
This program aims to cut down the solar power costs in order to bring them in line with the cost of other forms of grid-supplied electricity by 2017.
Out of the total capacity of 750 MWs, 350 MWs is supposed to be built with domestically manufactured solar cells and panels.
If the targets are met, 50 per cent amount will be paid upon plant completion and the balance in 10 per cent increments over the following five years, reported Bloomberg.
