New Delhi: The government has asked two state-run companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and NTPC, to develop offshore wind projects on nomination basis after a competitive tender for it failed to attract any bids, Minister of State for New & Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday.
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"Ministry have asked ONGC and NTPC to submit a proposal to develop the project based on nomination basis," Naik stated. The reply did not specify the capacity or location of the project the two firms have been asked to take up.
SECI issued the first tender for a 500 MW offshore wind project off the Gujarat coast on September 13, 2024, according to the reply. Naik said no bid was received "till last date of bid submission 31.07.2025." The ministry has since held a meeting with developers for participation in the bid, and "the bid will be issued based on the developer interest," he said, with the nomination route to ONGC and NTPC pursued in parallel.
The project falls under a viability gap funding scheme the Union Cabinet approved on June 19, 2024, at a total outlay of Rs 7,453 crore for 1 GW of offshore wind capacity — 500 MW each off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu — along with the upgradation of two ports to meet logistics requirements for offshore wind, Naik said. MNRE issued the scheme guidelines on September 11, 2024.
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ONGC and NTPC's green arm, NTPC Green Energy Limited, have an existing joint venture covering offshore wind and other clean-energy areas, formalised at India Energy Week (IEW) in February 2024. India has targeted 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, and no offshore wind project has been commissioned in the country so far.