MSEDCL Tenders For 500 MW Solar Under PMKUSUM

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL or Mahavitaran), has issued an expression of interest (EOI) and request for selection (RFS) for procuring 500 MW (AC) of solar power from decentralised solar projects.

Launched under the PMKUSUM scheme, these projects will be for sizes ranging from) 5 MW to 2 MW capacity. Location will have to be in the state of Maharashtra, as per component A conditions of the scheme.

The last date for submission of interest is June 28, 2021.

These plants will need to be located within 5 km of substations in agricultural dominated area. MSEDCL is providing the list of 33/11 kV MSEDCL substations with available capacity for setting up solar projects. Also in order to expedite the scheme and to support farmers, MSEDCL facilitates to lease their surplus lands. The lease rate for Government land as per GoM G.R. will be of Rs.1 for a period of 30 years and for private lands lease rate will be Rs. 30000/- per acre per year (with yearly 3% increment).

MSEDCL has earlier also floated tenders for procuring 1.3 GW of solar from large developers, under the states’ Mukhya Mantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yohjana (MKSKVY) scheme. The PMKUSUM scheme is also being implemented through the same .

Progress on PM KUSUM has been tardy, mainly due to disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic, as well as indifferent uptake from many states, due to various reasons. The good news is that there has been a definite uptick in work here, especially since the beginning of this year, with large states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh finally moving.