Record capacity is expected to be up for auction in India’s solar power market over the next 6 months, giving a sneak peek of the expansive solar power program planned by the Indian government.
About 90% of the capacity to be floated for auction will be under the central government’s policies. The largest auction will have 750 MW capacity to be implemented in the western state of Rajasthan. The auction will be conducted by NTPC Limited and the capacity would add to its owned installed capacity. The company will also auction an additional 1 GW capacity under the mode in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. For its own projects, NTPC Limited will hold auctions for a total capacity of 1,750 MW.
Acting as a nodal agency for the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), NTPC will auction 650 MW solar power capacity across 4 states. The power generated from these projects will be bundled with power generated from NTPC’s own coal-based projects. The largest of these auctions will have 400 MW capacity, which would be commissioned in Telangana. Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha will have 100 MW and 50 MW capacity installed, respectively, while the host state for the balance 100 MW capacity is yet to be decided.
The SECI will directly auction 37 MW of canal-top solar power capacity for implementation in 4 states. The largest among these will be for Uttaranchal where 20 MW capacity is scheduled to be auctioned. Karnataka will host 10 MW capacity, and Uttar Pradesh 6 MW and Kerala will have 1 MW capacity.
The SECI will also auction projects under the viability gap funding scheme wherein the prospective project developers would be required to bid for subsidy needed in capital cost investment for the project. A total capacity of 1,920 MW would be auctioned through this mode over the next 6 months. The largest auctions would have 500 MW capacity each and the projects shall be hosted in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan would host 250 MW capacity, Kerala 100 MW, Uttaranchal 35 MW, Meghalaya 10 MW, and Lakhshadeep 5 MW capacity.
Only one state is expected to hold auctions under its solar power policy over the next 6 months. Karnataka will float a tender for 500 MW capacity this month.
