The East Central Railway’s Danapur railway division has issued an invitation for bids for the appointment of agencies to carry out 3.252 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Bids must be submitted by February 24, 2023, and on the same day, bids will be revealed.
Each bidder is required to provide Rs. 1.07 million/MW as an earnest money deposit.
Within 30 days of signing the power purchase agreement (PPA), the winning bidders must submit the zonal railroads a performance bank guarantee in the amount of Rs. 1.6 million/MW and a bid processing fee of Rs. 75,000/MW of allocated capacity.
One developer per state will be appointed to implement rooftop systems with capacities ranging from 10 kW to 100 kW and from 100 kW to 500 kW in their respective regions.
The projects consist of 51 kW of rooftop solar systems with a capacity larger than 10 kW and up to 100 kW in Uttar Pradesh, 2.755 MW of rooftop solar systems between 100 kW and 500 kW capacity, and 446 kW of rooftop solar systems with a capacity between 10 kW and 100 kW in Bihar.
After obtaining the letter of award, the winning bidder will sign a 25-year PPA with the railways. If the public utilities or Zonal Railways want it, the divisional level may also need to be included in the signing.
The developers are required to offer full operation and maintenance (O&M) services for 25 years, and the projects must be finished within 240 days of receiving the work order.
The empanelment will be in effect for a year; however, based on the developer’s performance and requests from zonal railways, it may be extended for an additional year.
The MNRE and the Railways will not be compelled to give central financial support because it is not included in the tender.
Bidders must have successfully completed the commissioning of at least 1 MW of grid-connected systems, or they must have installed at least 200 kW of grid-connected solar rooftop systems, in the social, residential, commercial, industrial, or government sectors as a developer or EPC contractor, in order to be eligible.
Further, applicants must have a positive net worth and have had an average yearly turnover of at least Rs. 15 million in the previous 3 fiscal years.
