A tender for Gadchiroli district calls for the survey, design, fabrication, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of 32 six-metre solar high masts, 3 nine-metre solar high masts, and 169 solar street lights rated at 18W, spread across 34 separate places within the district.
One of the season's largest single awards
At 35 high masts and 169 street lights across 34 locations, this tender sits well above the scale of the district's own Chamorshi taluka award covering 70 street lights and 5 high masts across two villages earlier this season — suggesting Gadchiroli's district administration is now running a genuinely district-wide solar lighting programme rather than a series of taluka-by-taluka works.
Why a mix of 6-metre and 9-metre masts
The overwhelming majority of masts specified here are 6 metres, with only 3 taller 9-metre units — pointing to most of the 34 locations being smaller village centres or common grounds needing modest coverage, with a small number of larger sites, likely bigger market towns or taluka centres, warranting the taller mast.
Logistics across 34 sites
Executing installation, testing and commissioning across 34 dispersed places within one contract is a significant logistical undertaking given Gadchiroli's forest cover and limited road connectivity in several talukas — bidders on a tender of this scale need to demonstrate both the fixture supply capacity and the field execution team to complete commissioning across all 34 sites within the tender's stipulated timeline.
Part of a growing statewide pattern
This award follows a similar large-scale combo tender already running in neighbouring Bhandara district — an 85kW rooftop solar plant with 76 street lights and 5 high masts — together suggesting Vidarbha's eastern districts are increasingly favouring large, consolidated solar lighting awards over smaller village-by-village tenders.
