Last week, solar energy corporation of India (SECI), the implementation agency for national solar mission, increased the tariff cap of the tender by 10 paise to Rs. 2.85 per unit; the maximum permissible tariff when the tender was first floated was Rs. 2.93 per unit.
With tariff now close to the original cap, developers still seem non-committal.
The government and the industry have had several rounds of consultation on the model but project developers are apprehensive to venture into manufacturing business mandated by the tender floated in May this year.
SECI has tweaked the tender over the last few months including the tariff rates, extending project execution timeline, among others, to make the tender attractive for the industry.
One of the key changes also includes decreasing the manufacturing component of the tender from 5 GW to 3 GW, after the government feared that developers would quote higher tariffs to make up for margins lost in the manufacturing business.
The government is unlikely to relax the terms of a 10 GW solar tender linked with manufacturing of solar equipment and industry sources anticipate that the tender could be cancelled if the response to bid submission due next week remains tepid.
Reference- ET