Govt to invite bids for Rs 30 bn solar projects

The government will invite bids for Rs 30 billion (Rs 3000 crore) solar power projects with a capacity of 300 mw under the National Solar Mission in the first week of August, a top government official said. “There was a meeting with the solar power developers on July 8. Based on the meeting, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is looking to tweak some guidelines for the second round of bidding likely to take place in the first week of August,” said Anil Agrawal, chief executive officer, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, the nodal agency for conducting the selection process for the first stage of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The projects would be awarded by the end of this year and the power purchase agreements would be signed in January 2012.