Born again - IOC hydrogen tender
After removing a controversial clause, IndianOil has reissued a tender to set up a green hydrogen-production facility at the 15m t/y Panipat refinery.
Tender documents are on sale from March 8 (2024) to April 22 (2024), and bids can be submitted from April 15 (2024) to April 22 (2024). IndianOil plans to open techno-commercial bids on April 23 (2024) at 3pm "or at a later date/time convenient after that."
As in the previous tender, IndianOil wants the facility set up on a "Build Own Operate’ (BOO) basis to produce 10,000 t/y of green hydrogen. Whoever wins should set up the facility within 28 months of receiving the LoA, plus two months for commissioning.
Unlike the previous tender, this one has no clause favouring GH4 India, IndianOil’s joint venture with L&T, and Gurgaon-based renewable energy company ReNew. In the last tender, IndianOil gave GH4 India the right to match the lowest bid from any other company.
This clause saw the tender receive just one bid from GH4 India by the deadline of November 29 (2023). Other likely bidders stayed away in protest, and some challenged the preference for GH4 in the Delhi High Court, which has yet to rule.
IndianOil scrapped the previous tender on February 21 (2024). Still controversial is the BOO model, chosen by IndianOil.
"Bidders would prefer the EPC model as they wouldn’t want to invest money in such projects," says a source. "IndianOil should be investing the CAPEX, not bidders."
As in the previous tender, the present tender allows sole bids and bids from consortia of three companies at most. Even if it receives a low bid, IndianOil can try to reduce the price further through a reverse auction where companies must bid lower than a set price within a specific timeframe.