The financial bids were opened on Wednesday and the decision will be taken tomorrow.

For Agra, only one company qualified, out of Torrent Power and PNC Infratech — the latter had applied in consortium with other companies.

The bids of KLG and A to Z for Bareilly were also rejected and at the same time the bids by Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Sangharsh Samiti, which had applied for all the five districts — Kanpur, Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Moradabad — also failed to technically qualify. Now, the government has decided to invite fresh bids for Agra and Bareilly to get some healthy competition. “We have increased the time for putting technical bids for Agra and Bareilly by one week. Now the bids for these districts will be opened by February 24,” said an Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) official.

Incidentally, the UPPCL has already deferred the selection of franchisee for Gorakhpur and Moradabad for February 25, as there were no bidders for these districts.