Till June, 11,400 MW of Renewable Energy Procurement Tenders Have Been Cancelled

Around 11,400 MW of renewable energy procurement tenders issued by central agencies have been cancelled till June and the government has taken steps "to discourage the misalignment", Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State (MoS) for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik said this in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

"In respect of tenders issued since 01.04.2023 by Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIAs) namely SECI, NTPC, NHPC and SJVN, as on 30.06.2025, aggregate 11,400 MW of renewable power procurement tenders have been cancelled," the minister said.

The tenders have been cancelled on account of various reasons, which include insufficient participation, unreasonably high tariffs discovered, backing out of the targeted end-procurer, etc, he said.

Naik also said that there is 43,922 MW of renewable power capacity, for which Letters of Award (LoAs) have been issued by REIAs, but Power Sale Agreements (PSAs) with end-procurers have not been signed.

He said the quantum of unsigned PSAs is primarily on account of significant rise in the quantity of renewable power that has been bid out in recent past. REIAs have signed PSAs for 22,683 MW in respect of renewable energy procurement bids since April 2023.

The issuance of bids by REIAs for renewable power projects connected to Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) and transmission planning for ISTS are closely linked activities. Both are being undertaken in close co-ordination, Naik said.

"Further, to discourage the misalignment in bid issuance and transmission readiness and demand from end-procurers, and consequent issues including delays in PSA signing, the Standard Bidding Guidelines for Solar, Wind, Hybrid and Firm & Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) have been amended on 12.02.2025 to provide for cancellation of LoA after 12 months from the LoA date," the minister added.

In a separate reply, he said the government has also taken various positive steps to expedite PSAs, which include impressing upon states for compliance of Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO), impressing upon REIAs to consider aggregating demand from DISCOMs/other consumers and design products accordingly before inviting tenders, organising regional workshops with major renewable energy-procuring states.

As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA), India's total installed electricity capacity as of June, stands at 484.82 GW, of which non-fossil fuel based electricity capacity is 242.78 GW i.e. 50.08 per cent.

The 242.78 GW capacity from non-fossil fuel sources includes 116.25 GW solar energy, 51.67 GW wind energy, 11.60 GW bio energy, 54.48 GW hydro power, and 8.78 GW nuclear power capacity.