Leading coal mining company, Mahanadi Coalfields has floated tender for the two-year operation and maintenance (O&M) of a 2 MW solar project at its Burla headquarters in the Sambalpur district of Odisha. No earnest money deposit (EMD) is required to be a part of the bidding process. Successful bidders must submit 3% performance security of the contract amount within 21 days of receiving the letter of award. As for performance security, a bank guarantee of Rs 5 lakh or more is required to be submitted. To be eligible for the bidding process, the bidder must have completed a similar project worth 50% of the annualised value of work put out to tender for more than one year, or a contract worth 50% of the estimated value of work for one year during the past seven years. The annual value of the work will be calculated by multiplying the estimated value/completion period in days by 365. The bidder must possess an electrical contractor licence issued by an electrical licencing board or authority of any Indian state or union territory. According to Mahanadi Coalfields, preference will be given to local suppliers under the Make in India policy. Local suppliers classified as Class I and Class II will benefit from the policy. The bids are to be submitted on or before July 13 and will be open by July 15. Class-I local suppliers are those whose goods, services, or works offered for procurement contain at least 50% local content. The goods, services, or works of Class-II local suppliers are available for purchase, with local content equal to or greater than 20% but less than 50%. The subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) has also asserted that 25% of the tendered quantity has been set aside for micro and small businesses (MSEs). MSEs owned by scheduled caste and scheduled tribe entrepreneurs are eligible for 4% of the 25% reserved for MSE suppliers, while MSEs owned by women are eligible for 3%. The contractor must guarantee 98% plant availability, subject to grid availability, with a 75% performance ratio guaranteed and a capacity utilisation factor of 13 to 15 % annually. Work on contracts worth more than Rs 1 million should begin the next day after the agreement is signed or the site is handed over, whichever comes first. Image Source Also read: CREST floats tender for 1 kW to 10 kW rooftop solar in Chandigarh Also read: KELTRON invites bids to supply multi-crystalline solar modules