The CCI earlier today approved the bulk tender route for ordering of 11 super-critical units of 660MW (total of 7,260MW for five projects) at an estimated cost of Rs400 bn. These units would be used by NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for its various projects (see table 1 below for details). All these projects are scheduled to be commissioned in the 12th five year plan (12FYP).
| Organisation | Project | # Units | Project Size (MW) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NTPC & Bihar JV | Nabinagar | 3 | 1,980 |
| NTPC & UP JV | Meja | 2 | 1,320 |
| NTPC | Mouda Extn | 2 | 1,320 |
| NTPC | Solapur | 2 | 1,320 |
| DVC | Koderma II | 2 | 1.320 |
| TOTAL | 11 | 7,260 |
Thus, of the 11 units, 4 units would be used for NTPC’s projects, 5 units for projects in which NTPC has 50% stake each, and the balance 2 units for DVC projects.
Key terms and conditions of the contract include
- phased indigenous manufacturing of the super-critical equipments in India
- award of contract through the international competitive bid (ICB) route
- separate bids to be invited for boilers and steam-turbine generators
The main advantage of this bulk tender would be in terms of the increased pace of indigenisation of super-critical technology. This assumes significance in light of the ~100GW capacity addition proposed during the 12FYP. The original proposal was for ~92GW, which is now increased on account of the expected delays in the 11FYP capacity addition programme. A majority of the 12FYP capacity addition is expected to happen using super-critical technology.
The CCI has also indentified key players who are expected to bid for this contract. These are as below:
| Boiler Package | Steam Turbine-Generator Package |
|---|---|
| BHEL-Alstom | BHEL-Siemens |
| L&T-Mitshubishi | L&T-Mitshubishi |
| GB Engg-Ansaldo | Bharat Forge-Alstom |
| Toshiba-JSW |
The original proposal had stated that of the 11 units, at least 6 units would be awarded to BHEL if it the L1 bidder, else 5 units would be awarded to BHEL if it matches the L1 bid. However, today’s press release by the CCI is silent on this issue. This press release is also silent on the maximum number of units a player can bid for, whereas the original proposal had a restriction of a maximum of 3 projects (not units). This is intended to ensure increased participation as well as bring in more technology into the country.
Following the approval of Government of India, NTPC is required to go for Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) of bulk tendering of these 11 units within 45 days.