First e-bidding process through “ DEEP” Portal for short term power procurement results in substantive savings for Uttarakhand, Kerala , Bihar & Torrent Power

First e-Bidding process through recently launched DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding Portal for Short term power procurement has been concluded for the State of Uttarakhand and Kerala on 29.04.2016, for Torrent Power Ltd. on 03.05.2016 and for State of Bihar on 09.05.2016.Secretary (Power) Shri P K Pujari, while congratulating States of Uttarakhand, Kerala Bihar and Torrent Power for early adoption of the e-bidding portal, stated that the process has resulted in substantial savings as the prices discovered through e-bidding are significantly lower than the prices at which power was procured during the similar period in the last year.

For the State of Kerala, the lowest prices for the month of May in slot of the day have been discovered at 3.14 per unit while in the last year, Short term power in round the clock was procured at the rate of 4.70 per unit.For the State of Uttarakhand, the lowest price for power for the month of July on round the clock basis was discovered at 2.59 per unit through reverse auction in e-Bidding process using the bidding portal. It may be noted that last year for the month of July, the lowest price at which short term power was procured by the Discoms in the State of Uttarakhand was 3.41 per unit.

In e-Bidding process of Torrent Power Ltd., the lowest price for the month of May-June in slot of the day has been discovered at the rate of 2.95 per unit. There was no short term procurement in 2014-15 and 2015-16 by Torrent Power Ltd.For the State of Bihar, the lowest rate for the month of July, for slot of day, has been discovered at 3.08 per unit. No procurement was done in last two year through bidding by Discoms in the State of Bihar.These lower prices discovered through reverse auction in e-Bidding Process are expected to result in overall reduction of cost of procurement of power in the States and greater transparency in the auction process benefiting the ultimate consumers.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal , New and Renewable Energy had inaugurated the launch of “DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding& e-Reverse Auction portal” for procurement of short term power by DISCOMs on April 2016 with the objective to introduce uniformity and transparency in power procurement by the DISCOMs and at the same time promote competition in electricity sector.The Guidelines for short term procurement of power was also notified on 30.03.2016 by Ministry of Power, Government of India, making it mandatory for all the Procurer(s) to procure short term power by using this e-Bidding portal. The scope of this portal shall be further expanded soon to cover medium term and long term procurement of power.