SECI debars Reliance Power and subsidiaries from tenders over fake documents

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has barred Reliance Power (R-Power) and its subsidiaries from participating in its tenders for three years, following the submission of a fake document by R-Power for a SECI tender issued in June. 

The notice, released on November 6, under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), specifies that entities, including Reliance NU BESS Limited and other subsidiaries of Reliance Power, are prohibited from SECI tenders until 2027.

In June, SECI’s tender invited bids for 1 GW of solar power with 2 GW of standalone battery storage. Reliance Power, through its subsidiary Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited (now Reliance NU BESS Limited), submitted one of the lowest bids at Rs 3.81 per unit for battery storage, alongside a similar bid from JSW Energy. 

However, SECI’s examination of documents revealed that the bank guarantee against the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), provided by a foreign bank, was falsified. The discrepancy, discovered after the e-reverse auction, led SECI to annul the tendering process entirely.

Reports indicate that R-Power used an invalid bank document twice and communicated via a flagged email ID, which the State Bank of India (SBI) later identified as suspicious. SECI has not issued a response to recent media inquiries on the matter.