India’s NSM auction drives tariffs to record lows

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has awarded PV project contracts worth 350MW to 28 developers in its latest National Solar Mission (NSM) auction. Projects in batch II of phase II were allotted by a reverse bidding process and have an initial completion deadline of March 2013.

The maximum capacity of systems in this latest auction was 20MW, although developers were permitted to bid for an additional two projects and a further 30MW of capacity. Welspun Solar was the only solo bidder to take up this option, securing one 20MW (with a tariff bid of INR7.97) and two 15MW projects (tariffs of INR8.05 and INR8.14).

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Other successful developers were Azure Power, Solairedirect, GreenInfra Solar Farms and the joint venture of Mahindra Solar One and Kiran Energy. Together the latter two captured over 50MW of capacity – a 20MW and 15MW project were won under Mahindra’s name while another 20MW system was awarded to Kiran.

The average tariff bid for batch II was just INR8.7 per unit, a 27.5% fall from the corresponding figure for batch I. This dramatic drop mirrors the international trend of falling PV equipment prices, which, according to consulting firm Bridge to India, has enabled developers to consider capital costs as low as INR90 million for every MW installed. Additionally, developers appear to be leveraging on deferred payment schemes offered by module manufacturers and low interest rates possible on the strength of their balance sheets.

The auction’s results illustrate just how quickly the cost of solar in India is closing in on that of coal. And, if prices in India continue to fall at the current rate, this cost difference could disappear completely by 2014 or 2015, according to Bridge to India's Mohit Anand.

“Manufacturers are keen to offer discounts and to defer payments because things are so competitive right now,” Anand said. “Costs are going down and that’s really reflected in these bids.”

Read Next

September 15, 2025
Advances in edge-based artificial intelligence are helping make solar and storage interoperable by tackling the data challenge, writes Andrew Foster.
September 15, 2025
Italy’s latest renewable energy tender has received 12GW of bids, of which the majority, 10GW, came from solar PV.
September 15, 2025
Sunrun has priced a securitisation of leases and power purchase agreements, taking its non-recourse debt capital raised in Q3 above US$1.5 billion. 
September 15, 2025
Norwegian energy firm Statkraft has agreed to divest a portion of its renewable energy portfolio to Serentica Renewables.
September 15, 2025
UNSW spin-out company Lab360 Solar has been awarded funding from ARENA to bring its drone-based PV inspection technology to market.
Premium
September 15, 2025
The UK government and solar industry have jointly published a long-anticipated roadmap detailing how to maximise the country’s solar potential. Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK takes a closer look at the details.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines