Solar power auctions are losing their sanctity and developers their confidence, with Uttar Pradesh becoming the latest state to cancel winning bids without any valid reason, other than the lure of lower tariffs discovered in subsequent auctions. On receipt of letter of cancellation of the bids from the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) on Monday, the three winners of the reverse auction held in February 2020 are planning to move the appellate tribunal for electricity (Aptel) against the move. They may also write to the prime minister seeking his intervention to remedy the situation.
UPNEDA wrote to three firms – Vijay Printing Press, NV Vogt Singapore and a consortium of Saudi Arabia-based Al Jomaih and India’s Jakson Power – , stating that since no action was taken by the firms after they “consented for the extension of the bid period validity till March 31, 2021”, the bids have become “time-barred and infructuous”.
