We help developers, contractors, lenders and insurers get the numbers right on Indian power and infrastructure projects: what to bid, what to buy, and whether it was built to the contract.
Contract to number to equipment to evidence
From the tender document to the plant in operation, every number traced to a clause or a stated assumption.
- 1Contractthe clause
- 2Numberthe tariff and the cost
- 3Equipmentthe offer and the quantities
- 4Evidencethe test and the audit
Eikos Advisory Services LLP (limited liability partnership) advises developers, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors, lenders and insurers on bids, sizing, procurement and assurance. Every engagement is led and signed by its principal.
What the bid work has produced
Results achieved in the principal’s previous roles at Kalpataru Power Transmission, Advait Energy Transitions and KPI Green Energy.
Start from the question you have on the table
Each one is answered in writing, from the document in front of you, with every number traced to a clause or a stated assumption.
What tariff do I need to bid to win this tender?
Derived from the tender document and stated assumptions, not chosen and then justified.
What does each clause of this agreement really cost me?
Who carries which risk, and what it costs in tariff terms.
Is this supplier’s offer safe to accept?
Offers normalised to a common basis, with the evidence gates to pass before you sign.
Will this appraisal survive a lender’s read?
A financial case rooted in the contract, with the deciding scenarios laid open.
Is this installation safe, and what happens after a loss?
Requirements mapped to evidence, a graded opinion, and attribution after an incident.
How will this draft regulation or tender document affect us?
Commentary on regulations, orders and tender documents, including tariff and safety regimes.
What capex (capital expenditure) can a winning tariff carry?
SJVN (formerly Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam)’s 265 MW / 530 MWh standalone BESS tender in Haryana, won by NLC India Renewables (NLC: formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation) at Rs 2.35 lakh (1 lakh = 100,000)/MW/month. Public information only; the arithmetic is shown so it can be checked.
From tariff to capex, Rs lakh per MWh
| Gross capex carried, Rs lakh/MWh | IRR 8% | IRR 10% | IRR 12% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tariff 1.97 | 87.5 | 81.5 | 76.2 |
| Tariff 2.10 | 92.4 | 85.9 | 80.2 |
| Tariff 2.25 | 97.9 | 91.0 | 84.9 |
| Tariff 2.35 | 101.6 | 94.4 | 88.1 |
Assumptions and sources
Assumptions, not from the tender: 95% availability paid; O&M (operation and maintenance) of 1.5% of capex a year, rising 3% a year; one augmentation spend of 5% of capex in year 7; VGF paid 10% at financial closure, 45% at commercial operation and 15% a year for the next three years, as in the government’s earlier BESS VGF scheme, and simplified to start at year 0. Pre-tax, before debt; tax and grid charges ignored. Public sources: award report, Saur Energy; tender terms, SolarQuarter; Panipat 250 MW result, Saur Energy; VGF scheme, PIB (Press Information Bureau). Illustration only, not advice on any bid.
Five capabilities, in the order a project meets them
The same five serve a developer, an EPC contractor, a lender and an insurer. Each buys a different part of the sequence, and each is told which part is being bought.
Contract and risk
- Obligation register
- Clause-wise risk
- Risk classification
Sizing and BOQ (bill of quantities)
- Sizing to the interface point
- BOQ on citable codes
- Quantity basis
Commercial and decision
- CMA (credit monitoring arrangement) and financial model
- Bid decision
- Impact and scenario analysis
Procurement support
- Specification and enquiry
- Offer normalisation
- Evidence gates
Performance audit and assurance
- Requirement-to-evidence
- Graded opinion
- Taking over and attribution
Storage bid to CMA
One sector, one engagement type. The layers beneath a bid decision.
- 4DecisionImpact and scenario analysis: every route to the number, with the risk each route carries
- 3FinancialCMA and the financial model, rooted in the register rather than in a template
- 2RiskClause-cited risk register, classified on bearer, option, mechanism and quantification basis
- 1CostObligation-derived sizing and BOQ to the interface point, every quantity on a code
One principal, two qualifications, named associates by discipline
Mining and process safety, regulatory and appraisal practice, transmission and utility-scale storage.
- 1987–96Underground coal miningEastern Coalfields
- 1999–2007Regulation and appraisalDFID (UK Department for International Development), CRISIL (Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited) Advisory, KPMG
- 2007–18PPP bids, eleven yearsKalpataru Power Transmission
- 2020 onwardSolar, hydrogen, storageFreyr, Advait, KPI Green
BE (Bachelor of Engineering) Mining, Shibpur · First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate, DGMS (Directorate General of Mines Safety)
A statutory competency. The regime itself is the examined subject, and the duty rests personally on the holder.
PGDBA (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration), ICFAI (Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India) · Third level CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst, India)
Costing, appraisal, financial analysis, and the economic side of regulation.
Kausik Chowdhuri signs every Eikos engagement personally. Named associates by discipline (electrical, mechanical, fire, civil, structural) are engaged engagement by engagement and named to the client at the outset. Responsibility for the output stays with Eikos.
Where each capability was built
| Capability | Discipline | Where it was built |
|---|---|---|
| Contract and risk | Both | Kalpataru: Rs 6,500 cr of road and transmission assets, bid to financial close; storage tenders since |
| Sizing and BOQ | Engineering | Kalpataru, Advait, KPI Green: transmission, electrolyser and standalone BESS |
| Commercial and decision | Business | CRISIL Advisory and KPMG: appraisal and tariff work; five years of road BOT (build-operate-transfer) bids, contract to model |
| Procurement support | Both | Eastern Coalfields and Kalpataru: specification, enquiry and what contractors deliver against it |
| Performance audit and assurance | Engineering | Eastern Coalfields: nine years underground, safety officer and unit manager; three published safety handbooks |
| Policy and regulation | Both | DFID regulatory practice, four ADB (Asian Development Bank) technical assistance assignments, KPMG |
Where the work has been done, and what each rests on
Grid-scale storage
Standalone and co-located BESS: tender to CMA, safety assurance, taking over. BESS manufacturing strategy: entry route, technology and supplier selection, certification programme.
Distribution and transmission
Utility-scale lines and substations, sanction to commissioning.
Solar
Utility-scale and distributed solar, and solar co-located with storage.
Coal, mining and gasification
Deep-seam methane drainage and mine safety under a statutory regime. Surface coal and lignite gasification: feedstock assurance, eligible-cost definition, lender-side appraisal.
Green hydrogen and derivatives
Electrolyser sizing against a delivery obligation; ammonia synthesis safety.
Concession infrastructure
Roads on HAM (hybrid annuity model), BOT and TOT (toll-operate-transfer). Termination, milestones, annuity mechanics.
Seven works, open access and permanent
Citable by anyone, including a tribunal. All records are under ORCID 0009-0001-8271-751X, CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution). Concept DOIs (digital object identifiers) are cited, so each link resolves to the current version.
Safety Assurance of Grid-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems
63 numbered requirements
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21969460The Graded Audit Opinion in Use
One installation, two audits: how a finding moves as the window closes
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21983328Three Findings from Costing a BESS
What appears when a plant is priced from the contract rather than from a rate
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21997780Safety Assurance of Deep-Coal Coal Bed Methane Extraction
64 numbered requirements
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22094439Safety Assurance of the Green-Ammonia Value Chain
Six principles, seven hazards, 47 requirements
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21647611Battery Second-Life Grading and Routing Methodology
Grading retired cells for the reuse-or-recycle decision
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21265746Independent Verification, Grading and Two-Way Custody of Second-Life Batteries
The custody framework the grading methodology sits inside
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21301195Public developments, read for the value chain
Short analyses of Indian power and storage policy, regulation, bids and technology. Every figure is sourced, and every derived number shows its basis.
Green Energy Corridor Phase-III: storage joins the transmission plan
135 GW (gigawatts) of renewable evacuation and 50 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of storage by FY (financial year) 2032-33.
Read → RegulationMaharashtra’s draft storage rules
Storage becomes the price of grid access, and safety is left to others.
Read → BidsA tariff is a capex statement
Five storage auctions read backwards: tariffs up 27%, supportable capex up 22%.
Read → TechnologyGreen hydrogen: the gap between allocation and commissioning
8.62 lakh t/yr (tonnes a year) incentivised; about 1% to 1.3% reported operating.
Read →Three shapes, and where to start
Fixed fee for the work. A success element only where the outcome is defined and verifiable.
Diagnostic
- A tender, supply agreement, offer or draft specification read, with a written opinion
- Delivered as findings, not as a proposal for more work
Defined scope
- A bid, an appraisal, a certification programme, a supplier introduction to a bid
- Fee on the order placed or closure achieved; none in bid advisory or assurance
Retained
- A programme carried through: a bid season, an entry route, a manufacturer’s sales support
- Retainer set off against any fee on orders
Start with one document
Send the tender, agreement, offer or draft you are about to act on, with the decision it feeds and the date you need to decide by. You receive a written opinion at a fixed fee, agreed before any work begins.
Stated in advance, because the question will be asked
One side of a project at a time
A conflict check before any engagement is accepted, and the side declared in writing.
No equipment, no outcome fees in audits
The LLP’s registered objects bar it from manufacturing, supplying, installing, operating or trading in any plant or equipment of a kind it audits, inspects or reports upon. No remuneration is linked to the outcome or the findings of any audit.
The full rules
Cannot be combined on one project
- Bid advisory to a developer and lender’s appraisal of that same project
- Drafting a regulation, order or tender document for an authority and advising a party on its response to that same document
- Advice to a buyer on supplier selection and an undisclosed fee from a supplier under consideration
- Expert opinion for one party and any prior engagement for the other on the same facts
How it is handled
- A conflict check before any engagement is accepted, on the project and on the counterparties
- One side of a project at a time, declared in writing
- Any fee payable by a third party is disclosed in writing to the client and accepted before it is earned, and is never taken in bid advisory or on an assurance mandate
- The LLP’s registered objects bar it from manufacturing, supplying, installing, operating or trading in any plant or equipment of a kind it audits, inspects or reports upon
- No remuneration is linked to the outcome or the findings of any audit
- Prior work disclosed to a tribunal or a lender without being asked
Kausik Chowdhuri
Principal, Eikos Advisory Services LLP · Ahmedabad