NLC India Renewables and Sun Drops Energia may now sign contracts with GUVNL for 450 MW/900 MWh of standalone BESS in Gujarat, India, because the state regulator has adopted the rates that were discovered in the Phase IX auction. Each company will be paid about INR 2.32 lakh per MW per month over a term of 12 years.
Capacity adopted: 450 MW/900 MWh
NLC India Renewables: 275 MW/550 MWh
Sun Drops Energia: 175 MW/350 MWh
Monthly rate: INR 2.32 lakh/MW
Buyer: GUVNL
VGF support: INR 18 lakh/MWh
Contract term: 12 years
Daily cycles: 2
The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC), an India-based state electricity regulator, has adopted the tariffs for 450 MW/900 MWh of standalone BESS in Gujarat, India. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL), which had tendered the capacity in its Phase IX round, may now sign a BESS purchase agreement (BESPA) with each of the two winners. The order is dated 28 October 2026, and the tender terms allow 10 days for those signatures.
The larger share has gone to NLC India Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of NLC India, which quoted the lowest rate and has been allotted 275 MW/550 MWh at INR 231,989 per MW per month. Its capacity will be connected through 220 kV bays at the Choraniya and Virpore substations. The remaining 175 MW/350 MWh has been allotted to Sun Drops Energia, a subsidiary of KPI Green Energy, at INR 231,990, and it will be divided among 66 kV bays at the Otha, Sagapara and Visavadar substations.
Both rates were settled in a tender that had drawn 11 bids. One bid was found to be non-compliant, and the highest of the other 10 was excluded, which left nine bidders for the e-reverse auction of 11 August 2026. The initial quotes had ranged from INR 2.60 lakh to INR 3.91 lakh per MW per month, and the auction brought the price down to about INR 2.32 lakh.
The capacity was put out to tender again because one of the winners of the Phase VII round failed to sign its agreement for 450 MW/900 MWh. Phase VII had awarded 3.33 GWh at rates of INR 1.85 lakh to INR 1.89 lakh, so the new rate stands above that range. GUVNL has explained to the commission that its tender terms require developers to arrange their own land, to build the line to the grid and to construct bays at 66 kV to 220 kV.
The contracts will bind each developer to a two-hour system that is available for two full charge-discharge cycles a day over a term of 12 years, with an annual availability of 95% and a round-trip efficiency of 85%. The projects will also receive viability gap funding (VGF) of INR 18 lakh per MWh through the Power System Development Fund (PSDF).
Sun Drops Energia has now won capacity in three successive GUVNL rounds, having taken 445 MW/890 MWh in Phase VII and 120 MW/240 MWh in Phase VIII. Across India, 3,250 MW of BESS was awarded in August 2026, and 9.6 GWh had been commissioned in the country, according to the EnergyWatts update from JMK Research and IEEFA.