News from the much celebrated 2 GW auction of NTPC in 2018, where top developers had bid for prices as low as Rs 2.59 is not good. Developers, namely, Acme Solar, Shapoorji Pallonji, and Azure Power, who had won 70% of the auctioned capacity, have opted out of the deal, citing regulatory delays.
The option of cancellation with the bidders was there in the PPA, which they have duly enforced now.
Interestingly, SB Energy, which had won 600 MW at a Rs 2.60 bid, is the only developer left. One might recall that SB Energy had actually made a bid for the full 2 GW complement, but got ‘only’ 600 MW as it missed the lowest price by a whisker in the oversubscribed tender.
The NTPC tender had stood out for the fact that it was one of the first big ones after the safeguard duty was announced, and to that extent, these costs were easily as good as the record low price of Rs 2.44 that had been witnessed earlier.
As it turns out, almost each of the developers mentioned here have their own liquidity issues to deal with currently. From general distress (ACME Solar) to a new team transitioning at Azure.
The Shapoorji Pallonji group and its travails linked to its now listed EPC arm Sterling and Wilson have been well documented to be detailed again .
Reference- Economic Times, Business Standard, Mercom India