The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), an umbrella organisation for solar energy stakeholders in India, has drawn the attention of Union power minister RK Singh to the challenges being faced by solar developers in Uttar Pradesh, where secured bids were cancelled without any “valid reason”.

Seeking the minister’s intervention in directing the Uttar Pradesh government to retract the letter sent by UPNEDA to developers intimating them that the bids have turned infructuous, the letter seeks his office to direct the state government to instead issue the letters of intent (LoI) for the bidders who had won the reverse auction.

In a letter to the minister, the chairman of NSEFI, Pranav R Mehta, has said that after a reverse auction process is completed, the onus is on the bidding agency, which in this case was UPNEDA. As per the RfP, UPNEDA had to issue the LoIs before May 15, 2020, which it failed to do and instead requested the developers to extend the timelines for the bid period validity.

Stating that the developers have been keen to implement the project and had hence accepted the request of UPNEDA to extend the bid period validity to enable it to issue the LoIs, the letter states that the current validity of the EMDs is till June 30, 2021.

“It is very wrong on the part of UPNEDA to conclude that no action has been taken by our members for the bid period extension. There is no basis for UPNEDA’s statement that says our bids became time barred and infructuous because we didn’t take any action, while all the way it was UPNEDA whose inaction led to this,” the letter states, adding that the bids are valid and not liable to be cancelled or expire merely because UPNEDA has not fulfilled its part of obligations under the RFP.

Stating that while UPNEDA cannot cancel the bid at this stage unilaterally, the letter says that actions like this will only tarnish the image of the country on the international stage and affect foreign investment.

“This uncertainty will not only hinder the FDI in the sector, but also make foreign investors cautious towards all investments into the power sector, which will affect India’s renewable energy journey and targets,” it said.