NTPC Floats 2.5-GW Module Tenders To Accelerate India’s Solar Surge

• NTPC invites bids for 2.5 GW of ≥ 570 Wp bifacial modules for mega-projects in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, advancing India’s drive toward gigawatt-scale solar.

India’s biggest power producer, NTPC, is putting out feelers for a huge batch of solar panels—2.5 GW in total—as it races to bulk-up the nation’s clean-energy muscle. One order covers 1.5 GW of panels for the sun-soaked Bikaner park in Rajasthan; the other seeks 1 GW for projects in Lalitpur and Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.

NTPC isn’t after just any panels. It wants high-efficiency, bifacial crystalline-silicon modules rated at 570 W or more. These two-sided panels can catch reflected light from the ground as well as direct sunlight, squeezing extra power out of every square metre—handy when grid connections and land are both at a premium. Interested suppliers have to get their bids in by 19 August, with the first deliveries pencilled in for early 2026.

Once known mainly for coal, NTPC has promised 60 GW of renewables by 2032, helping India hit its 500 GW non-fossil goal. To keep costs down, the company now orders hardware in giant, gigawatt-scale lots, a move that also nudges manufacturers to build more of the supply chain at home under India’s Production-Linked Incentive programme.

Analysts say NTPC’s bifacial requirement is no accident. In Rajasthan’s bright, sandy desert, rear-side generation can lift yearly output by around 10–12 percent—especially if the modules sit on single-axis trackers that follow the sun across the sky.

The tender comes as New Delhi rolls out fresh support for solar, from scrapping import duties on solar-grade glass to sweetening subsidies for battery storage that can soak up midday oversupply and feed power back after dark. Future phases of NTPC’s projects are expected to bolt storage onto these parks, shaving the need for expensive gas peaker plants.

Would-be suppliers do face strings: meet domestic-content rules or pay stiff duties. That hurdle is likely to spark a bidding war among home-grown heavyweights such as Adani Solar, Waaree, and Vikram Solar, while overseas brands look to joint-venture routes to stay in the game.