Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) which is set to build India's first green hydrogen plant recently received two bids after receiving pre-bid documents from nearly 30 entities. The two bidders include Neometrix Engineering and Gh4India, this was first reported by the Economic Times
The two bids came in the second tender as the first tender issued last year was scrapped due to allegations of favouritism. The plant is set to come up at Panipat refinery in Haryana. IOC through the tender had invited bids to Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis for the 1st green hydrogen plant for 25 years.
The second bid was received in March. An IOC official told ET, "There is only one industry consortium that is a refiner and also EPC player and has renewable energy experience and that is the GH4India consortium where the procurer himself is a 33.4% shareholder.”
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Neometrix Engineering Pvt. Ltd., is an engineering solution-based company based in Noida. It specialises in Aviation, Electrical and Instrumentation, Electronics, Fluid Mechanics, and Chemical Engineering.
Gh4India is a joint venture company of IOC, India's top refiner and fuel retailer, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's premier engineering & construction conglomerate, and ReNew Power, a company that is India's frontrunner in renewable energy. Through their joint venture, the three companies will focus on building green hydrogen projects and supply it on an industrial level.
Reportedly, the first tender received biddings but was cancelled in February 2024 accusing IOC of not providing a level playing field to all bidders. The industry players cited that the bid was favouring Gh4India Pvt. Ltd. Interestingly, IOC which is the procurer has a 33.4 per cent equity shareholder in Gh4India Pvt. Ltd. One of the bidders said, "This defeats the spirit of competitive bidding." The cancellation was seen as a setback.
