An interstate transmission system (ISTS) scheme “Eastern Region Generation Scheme – I” or “ERGS-I” has come up for re-bidding.
Bid process coordinator PFC Consulting Ltd (PFCCL) recently initiated re-bidding for the ISTS-TBCB scheme ERGS-I for reasons that were not immediately available.
Housed under project SPV “Angul Sundargarh Transmission Ltd,” currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of PFCCL, this is a relatively small scheme envisaging LILO of both circuits of the existing 2xS/C 765kV Angul-Sundargarh lines in Odisha, at the Talabira power generation plant switchyard of NLC India Ltd. The project, estimated to cost around Rs.413 crore, has an envisaged completion date of March 28, 2028.
There could be several reasons for re-bidding including the emergence of “single-bidder” status at the time of the e-reverse auction.
As already reported by T&D India, only two bidders – Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) and Tata Power – had qualified for opening of initial price bids, based on their technical bids. It is likely that only one bidder participated in the e-reverse auction procedure, though there is no official confirmation to this effect.
The current guidelines mandate the presence of at least two bidders for projects to be awarded under the competitive bidding route.
PFCCL had initiated bidding for this project way back in April 2024 with the original bid submission date standing at May 31, 2024. This deadline was stretched multiple times, finally reaching October 23, 2024.
Single-bidder status
In at least two ISTS-TBCB schemes in recent history, PGCIL emerged as the sole bidder prompting PFCCL, the bid process coordinator, to take up the matter with the Union power ministry.
Prompted by this development, the National Committee on Transmission (NCT) has come up with a working rule to deal with TBCB projects that receive single bid or no bids at all.
This working rule, once formally approved by the Union power ministry, will be incorporated in the existing “Tariff-based Competitive Bidding Guidelines for Transmission Service, 2021,” issued by the Union power ministry in August 2021. (See full story)
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