The state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on Monday said it has extended the deadline to submit bids for 6GW solar projects till September 11.

The techno-commercial bids for the 6GW solar energy projects were scheduled to be opened on Monday. The auction was dragged further as no bids were received.

“The last date of bid submission is hereby extended till September 11, 2019 (11:00 HRS). The techno-commercial bid opening shall be carried out from 12:00 noon on September 11, 2019,” a SECI notice on its Web portal said.

An industry source said no company submitted bids under the auction for the 6 GW manufacturing-linked solar energy projects.

The source also said the capping of tariff under the auction was one of the main reasons for no response by the industry.

According to the tender document, SECI had capped the tariff at Rs 2.75 per unit in the auction.

The industry has been raising concerns about capping of tariff under the solar and wind power projects auctions, saying that the government should leave it to the market.

SECI had received a similar response to its tenders for solar energy projects linked with manufacturing in the last fiscal as well.

Under this tender, the developers would have to develop four projects of 1.5 GW each, along with 0.5 GW solar equipment manufacturing capacities.

SECI is a nodal agency of the Centre for auctioning renewable energy projects in the country. The auction of solar energy projects assumes significance in view of India’s ambitious target of having 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022.

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