SECI extends deadline to bid for 6 GW solar projects till Sep 11

State-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on Monday said it has extended deadline to submit bids for 6GW solar projects till September 11.

The techno-commercial bids for the 6GW solar energy was scheduled to be opened on Monday. The auction was dragged further as no bidders submitted bid.

"The last date of bid submission is hereby extended till September 11, 2019 (11:00 HRS). The techno-commercial bid opening shall be carried out from 12:00 Noon on September 11, 2019," a SECI notice on its web portal said.

An industry source said no company submitted bids under the auction for the 6 GW manufacturing linked solar energy projects.

The source also said the capping of tariff under the auction was one of main reason for no response by the industry.

According to the tender document, SECI had capped the tariff at Rs 2.75 per unit in the auction.

The industry has been raising concerns about capping of tariff under the solar and wind power projects auctions, saying that government should leave it to market.

SECI had received similar response to its tenders for solar energy projects linked with manufacturing in the last fiscal as well.

Under, this tender the developers would have to develop four projects of 1.5 GW each along with 0.5 GW solar equipment manufacturing capacities.

SECI is a nodal agency of the central government for auctioning renewable energy projects in the country.

The auction of solar energy projects assumes significance in view of India's ambitious target of having 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022.