In response to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Poddar regarding auction for solar energy, Minister of State for New & Renewable Energy and Power RK Singh said that the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has been holding consultation with project developers and financing institutions in a bid to make tenders marketable.

“SECI conducts various rounds of consultation with project developers and financing institutions.

The feedback received is suitably incorporated into the tender documents to address the genuine concerns of the stakeholders to the extent possible,” Singh said. Poddar had asked whether auctions for solar power floated by SECI in the last few months have gone unsold.

 If yes then what are the tweaks that SECI have made to revive interest in the auction, he added.

In response, Singh said that some of the tenders have received lower capacity of bids due to “rupee depreciation” and “increase in the cost of borrowing”.

He, however, added that the response to solar tenders floated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has been good in general.

SECI is the agency tasked with implementing the national solar mission. In its latest auction, the SECI floated a 3 Giga Watt tender linked with 1.5 Giga Watt manufacturing capacity on Tuesday. The SECI floats e-tenders online and interested companies can participate in the auction in a hassle-free process that is mostly online. Replying to a question on whether SECI will have to pay Rs 40 lakh annually for every Mega Watt of solar power produced that remains unsold, Singh said, “Power Sale Agreement (PSA) is signed by SECI with DISCOMs before signing of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with project developers to ensure that power produced from solar projects does not remain unsold.”