Companies based out of China will be eligible to participate in tenders floated by the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

“The ISA tenders follow the global tender norms stipulated by the United Nations. The rules do not prevent anyone from participating. The focus would remain on lowering the cost,” Upendra Tripathy, Director General at the ISA, said.

Countries that are not currently a part of the ISA are also allowed to participate, he said while citing the example of Germany wanting to compete in an earlier tender.

Tripathy was speaking at a webinar to announce the First World Solar Technology Summit being organised by ISA. The Summit will be held on September 8 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be delivering the inaugural address.

ISA is the first UN-Treaty based multilateral organisation based out of India. It is aimed at increasing the penetration of solar energy across the globe. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)for Power and New & Renewable Energy, RK Singh is the current President of the ISA Assembly.

An official statement said that the first session of the Summit will be titled ‘Vision 2030 & Beyond.’ It will deliberate on the prospects of solar energy supplying 70 per cent of the world’s electricity generation.

The ISA presently has 67 countries. There are currently six programmes being run. These are on Solar Applications for Agricultural Use, Affordable Finance at Scale, Mini Grids, and Solar Rooftops and Solar E-mobility & Storage and Large-Scale Solar Parks.

“Till date, ISA has aggregated a pipeline of solar projects worth $5.5 billion and is working to facilitate financing of solar projects in member countries,” the statement said.