NTPC Renewable Energy Limited has issued an engineering, procurement and construction tender to develop a 550 Megawatt (MW) grid connected solar project near Shimbhoo Ka Burj in Rajasthan, with bids invited until 26 June 2026. Pure play solar projects have become rare and the company suggested this asset could attract aggressive price bids despite the domestically manufactured panel mandate that will apply.

Under the scope of work the successful bidder must undertake full EPC activities including supply of solar modules for commissioning, design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage, installation, testing and commissioning of the solar photovoltaic plant. NTPC REL indicated it intends to finance the package through own resources and/or borrowings and requires all bids to be accompanied by a bid security of Rs 200 million (mn). The procurement emphasises module supply responsibility.

NTPC management outlined wider renewable plans for the state, noting progress on a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) project for which the required land is reportedly already held. The company has entered into implementation support agreements and is working on commercial offtake arrangements with the Rajasthan government. Company representatives said that all tendering activities for that programme have been completed and efforts are under way to finalise execution partners.

Technical eligibility conditions require that the bidder should have designed, supplied, erected or supervised erection, and commissioned or supervised commissioning of solar photovoltaic based grid connected power plants of 40 MWp or higher installed capacity, with at least one reference plant of 10 MWp or higher that has been in successful operation for at least six months prior to techno commercial bid opening. The bidder must also have executed during the last 10 years an industrial project as developer or EPC contractor with a value of Rs 3.115 billion (bn) or more in a single project and that project should have been in operation for at least one year or six months before bid opening.