SECI Terminates RfS for 7500 MW Solar Projects in Leh and Kargil

SECI has notified that the RfS issued for setting up of 7500 MW solar PV projects in Leh and Kargil (Jammu & Kashmir) has been terminated.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has notified that the Request for Selection (RfS) issued for the selection of solar power developers for setting up of 7500 MW grid-connected solar PV projects in Leh and Kargil (Jammu & Kashmir) has been terminated.

The tender was first issued in December 2018 (December 31), however, being the first multi gigawatt tender issued in the subcontinent and compounded by low response and industry turmoil over policy matters saw the tender extended multiple times over 2018 and then into 2019.

The tender was then brought back into focus in August 2020 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech reinstated the Centre’s aim to establish a 7.5 GW solar power park in Ladakh to set the union territory on course to becoming carbon neutral. In his speech, Modi had said that “Ladakh has several specialties. Not only do we have to preserve them, we have to nurture them as well. As Sikkim has made its mark as an organic state in the northeast, Ladakh — Leh and Kargil — can also create their own niche as a carbon-neutral region.”

Following which in December 2020, SECI had extended the bid submission deadline for its tender. The last date for bid submissions was extended until January 31, 2021. However, the nodal agency has now announced that it has terminated the RfS.

At the time of issuance, it was announced that the projects are a part of the scheme approved by the government for setting up of 23 GW Grid-connected solar PV Projects in the Leh & Kargil regions of Jammu & Kashmir. The total capacity is targeted to be implemented in several phases, the first phase being the implementation of a 2500 MW grid-connected capacity at Suru in Zanskar, 245 km east of Kargil, and 5000 MW capacity at the Morey plains, some 215 km east of Leh.

It is believed that the project has been planned with an estimated outlay of Rs 45,000 crore and the project is set for commissioning in 2023, saving 12,750 tonnes of carbon emissions in every year of operation.