As expected states have now started taking the initiative on the lines of the JNNSM bidding by asking developers to push downward solar grid tariffs.

In a similar vein, solar power developers who have bid for projects under the Karnataka Solar Mission have been given time till April 16 to revise (down) their price bids. Nineteen developers have cleared the ‘technical bid’ stage under the State’s 80 MW programme. These companies can now revise their price bids.

The announcement of winners of the technical bids comes after a delay, almost three months after the bids for the projects closed in November last year.

“Since there has been a lag in announcing winners of technical bids, the companies are given an option to revise the prices they have quoted,” says Mr Prasanna Kumar, Managing Director, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd.

The decision to permit companies to re-quote prices could benefit the government as bidders might reconsider and increase the discounts they offer. Experts believe that after a company (Alex Green) offered prices as low as Rs 7 a unit to set up a project in Odisha, the Government could hope for similar offers by companies in Karnataka.

Source: Hindu Business Line