Privatisation Bound CEL issues Tender for 1 Million Solar Cells

Central Electronics Limited (CEL), the public sector enterprise in the eye of a privatisation tussle, has invited bids for the supply of one million multicrystalline solar cells of 4.68 W output or higher. CEL’s privatisation process has been put on hold due to objections raised regarding its valuation as well as the buyer credentials.

In the tender document issued by the firm, the last date for bids is January 28, 2022.

In terms of specifications, the solar cell should be five busbars in length and 156.75 x 156.75 mm +/-0.25 mm or 157 x 157 mm +/-0.25 mm in dimension. The cells must be 200 ± 20 microns in thickness with a wattage of ≥4.68 W.

Besides being free of any blemishes like cracks, holes etc, the cells should have a homogeneous silicon nitride coating without any color variations. The packing of the cells should be in lots of 100 cells or as per the vendors’ standard size.

To participate in the tender, bidders will need to fulfil conditions including being an original manufacturer. They will also need to confirm that the modules manufactured with the cells would conform to IEC 61215/IS 14286 and IEC 62904 standards.

A minimum manufacturing capacity of of 30 MW/annum has also been mandated.

In case of a split tender, micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) quoting a price within a price band of L1 (lowest)+15% will be allowed to supply a portion up to 20% of requirement by bringing down their price to L1 price where L1 is non MSME price.

Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has been involved in multiple tendering processes, from Decentralised projects in Maharashtra to upto 200 MW of solar projects elsewhere in India.