Maharashtra auction sees tariffs hit Rs 2.74 per unit

Unlike Gujarat’s 700 MW tender, Maharashtra’s 1 GW tender saw mostly domestic developers participating.

Shiv Solar and Acme Solar won 50MW and 300MW, respectively, at the lowest winning tariff of Rs 2.74 per unit, while ReNew Power and Avaada Energy won 300MW and 350MW at Rs 2.75 per unit.

“Lower tariffs were in any case not justified as all kinds of costs are going up…. Prices should rise, but the moment they do, states have been cancelling the auction itself. So developers have stayed close to the old price,” a developer was quoted as saying by Economic Times in a report on the auction results.

Maharashtra’s previous solar auction in May last year had seen winning tariffs of Rs 2.71-2.72 per unit.

For the latest 1 GW tender, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) had initially set a ceiling of Rs 2.8 per unit.The projects are not location-specific, which means developers can set up solar projects anywhere in the country—not necessarily in Maharashtra, which has lower solar radiation than states like Rajasthan. This flexibility is said to have driven lower tariffs in the auction.

In contrast, Gujarat’s 700 MW auction had seen developers attributing the rise in tariffs (Rs 2.84) to high charges levied at the state’s Raghanesda Solar Park, where the 700 MW of projects were to have been located. The entire tendered capacity was ‘won’ by foreign companies, although it proved a short-lived success as the auction was cancelled blaming high tariffs.