Rajasthan Solar Tender attracts lowest bid ever

After Tamil Nadu’s Solar tender which discovered a lowest bid of Rs. 5.97 per unit (with annual escalation of 5%), it was time for Rajasthan’s solar tender to unveil something similar. Rajasthan discovered a bid of Rs. 6.45 per unit offered by Essel Mining which aims to put a 10 MW Solar PV plant. As per an article published in Business Line (refer), around four bidders were found offering solar power at rates less than Rs.7 per unit or below.

Rajasthan electricity regulatory commission in its Retail Tariff Order for FY 2012-13, fixed a tariff for HT-5 Category (Large Industrial Consumers) as Rs. 5.5 per unit. With solar power being made available at Rs. 6.45 per unit, the difference between the afore-mentioned HT tariff and that of solar-generated electricity comes out equal to less than 1. This downward trend emphasizes that the grid parity as far as solar power is concerned is within achievable distance as the cost of balance of systems and other associated solar equipments start plummeting, taking competition among solar players to the next level . Although issues like, levy of anti-dumping duty on such products jeopardizes the growth of solar power to some extent.