SECI Cancels Tender For Ground-Mounted Solar Project At Leh

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) today announced the termination of its tender for a solar project at Pang, Leh. The central agency had earlier floated a tender seeking developers to set up a 500 kW ground-mounted solar project at the site. SECI had planned to bring the project under tariff-based competitive bidding. The government entity, however, has not furnished any reasons behind the decision.

Advertisment

In an official notification issued by SECI today, it said, “It is hereby intimated that ‘Request for Selection (RfS) Document for Selection of Solar Power Developer for Setting up of 500 kW Ground Mounted Solar PV Power Pilot Project at Pang, Leh under Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding,’ vide Ref. No.: SECI/C&P/IPP/11/0003/25-26 dated 30/05/2025, issued by SECI, stands terminated.”

SECI had planned to bring this project live in the region as a pilot initiative. The plan was to use the RESCO model. This project was intended to demonstrate the viability of deploying solar power infrastructure in geographically and climatically challenging areas. If successful, it could have served as a blueprint for similar projects across remote and off-grid locations in India.

Pang in Leh was considered a preferential site due to reportedly having the highest solar insolation in India. This was attributed to the clean air and minimal cloud cover in the region, which could have led to new benchmarks in achieving the highest Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) in the country and revealed new trends in solar generation at such sites.

Advertisment

The region has already witnessed some other pilot projects aimed at testing different technologies. For example, it experimented with a radiant heating project using CSP technology and glycol-water heating to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. Besides this, Leh also implemented thermal heating under the DIHAR Shelter project using evacuated tube collectors.

SECI, meanwhile, has also planned a 13 GW hybrid renewable project in the region by combining solar and wind technologies. A few solar companies have additionally explored off-grid solar solutions to promote small-scale solar usage in the area.