Shining Bright: Solar Tariffs In India Plunge To Record Low Of Rs 2.00 Per Unit In Latest SECI Auction

In a big fillip for the surging adoption of solar energy in the nation, tariffs fell to a new record low of Rs 2.00 per unit in an auction conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) yesterday (23 November), reports Economic Times.

The auction involved auctioning of 1,070 megawatts (MW) capacity of power generation and witnessed aggressive bidding by foreign and Indian companies. Finally, Singapore based Sembcorp Energy and Saudi Arabia based Aljomaih Energy and Water Company won 400MW and 200MW respectively at a tariff of Rs 2.00 per unit. The remaining 470MW was bagged by NTPC at a tariff of Rs 2.01 per unit.

It should be noted that the Rs 2.00 tariff bid comes out to be whopping 15 per cent lower than the previous lowest bid of all times which stood at Rs 2.36 per unit. The said bid was achieved in another auction conducted by SECI in July, earlier this year.

It is likely that the agreement by Rajasthan's distribution companies to purchase the power generated would have led to an encouraging response by the bidders, driving down tariff bids.

The development comes as a big boost for the nation which is looking to have a capacity of 100 GW of solar power generation capacity by 2022 when India would have completed 75 years of Independence from the usurious British Raj.