SRIKANTA TRIPATHY

JAIPUR:

Janardan Wind Energy, Suzlon Energy and Maharashtra Seamless on Monday won bids for 10 solar projects with a combined capacity of 100 MW offered by NTPC for setting up plants in Rajasthan While Janardan Wind Energy bagged two projects of 10 MW each, quoting the lowest tariff of Rs 5.06/kWh in the reverse bidding conducted by NTPC, Suzlon Energy and Maharashtra Seamless won 60 MW and 20 MW respectively offering a marginal higher rate of Rs 5.07/kWh.All these projects were offered under the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) category that aims to encourage manufacturing of solar equipment in the country and also mandates the developers to use locally made cells and modules. Industry watchers said under the DCR category, the tariffs quoted for the 100 MW are lowest in the country."Small and medium enterprises are yet to benefit from the growth of solar industry, which today majorly depends on imports. Since the government wants to promote Make in India, development of DCR projects can provide the required momentum to local manufacturers of solar cells and modules," said Sunil Bansal, general secretary, Rajasthan Solar Association.Rajasthan government has selected NTPC for sourcing solar energy to meet its renewable purchase obligations. In January, NTPC had offered 420 MW under the open category where Fortum India quoted the lowest-ever price in the country at Rs 4.34/kWh to win a bid for 70 MW solar project.In the open category, the bidder is free to procure equipment either domestically or from outside.In December last year, under the DCR category Azure Power won two projects in Andhra Pradesh with a combined capacity of 100 MW offering a tariff of Rs 5.12/kWh, while Adani Group firm Prayatna Developers quoted Rs 5.13/kWh for 50 MW.