EPC Time Policy

This EPC Time Policy (the “Policy”) applies to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), turnkey and balance-of-plant projects delivered by Bharat Atom Renewable Resources Energy Limited (“BARREL”, the “Contractor”) for a project owner or employer (the “Owner”), including solar (ground-mounted, rooftop and floating), wind, hybrid, battery energy storage systems (BESS), substations and switchyards, transmission and distribution lines, and green hydrogen and related facilities.

Its purpose is to make the rules about time clear from the start: when time begins, what each party must do, how progress is measured, what happens when something delays the work, and how the parties share the consequences.

This Policy should be read with the Payment and Liability Policy, which contains the general liability cap, indemnities and payment rules, and with the Working Agreement where one is signed.

Figures in this Policy, such as notice periods, liquidated damages rates and caps, and typical durations, are typical values. They become binding on a project only when they are written into the Contract or where the Contract is silent and expressly incorporates this Policy.

Where the Contract follows a published standard form (for example a FIDIC form or a government or public-sector utility standard bidding document), that form and its particular conditions prevail over this Policy.

Effective Date

The date on which the Contract comes into force, as stated in it; usually the date of signing or the date on which its conditions precedent are satisfied.

Notice to Proceed (NTP)

The written instruction from the Owner to start work, issued after the conditions in the Contract (such as the advance payment and the Owner’s prerequisites) are met. Where the Contract uses an NTP, the project time runs from the NTP date and not from the Effective Date.

Commencement Date

The date from which the Time for Completion is counted: the NTP date, or if there is no NTP, the later of the Effective Date and the date on which all Owner’s prerequisites for starting are fulfilled.

Baseline Programme

The time schedule for the works agreed or accepted under the Contract, showing activities, durations, logic links, the critical path and Milestones.

Critical Path

The longest chain of dependent activities in the programme, which determines the earliest date the works can be completed.

Milestone

A defined event in the programme, such as approval of designs, delivery of major equipment, completion of civil works, energisation or commissioning of a block.

Scheduled Completion Date (SCD)

The date by which the Contractor must achieve completion, calculated as the Commencement Date plus the Time for Completion, as extended under the Contract.

Mechanical Completion

The stage when the works or a section are installed and erected in accordance with the Contract and are ready for pre-commissioning and commissioning, apart from minor items that do not affect safe operation.

Commercial Operation Date (COD)

The date on which the plant or a section is declared in commercial operation in accordance with the Contract and the applicable regulations, power purchase agreement and procedures of the relevant utility or nodal agency.

Taking Over

The handing over of the works or a section to the Owner, evidenced by a taking-over or completion certificate, after successful tests on completion.

Defects Liability Period (DLP)

The period after Taking Over during which the Contractor must remedy defects in the works, as stated in the Contract (typically 12 to 24 months).

Extension of Time (EOT)

An extension of the Time for Completion, the Scheduled Completion Date or a Milestone date granted under the Contract.

Liquidated Damages (LD)

The pre-agreed amount payable by the Contractor for delay in achieving completion or a Milestone, as stated in the Contract.

Within the period stated in the Contract (typically 21 to 30 days after the Commencement Date), BARREL submits a detailed programme for the works, normally prepared in Oracle Primavera P6 or an equivalent scheduling tool. The programme shows:

• the sequence and duration of engineering, procurement, manufacturing, transport, civil, mechanical, electrical, testing and commissioning activities;
• the logic links between activities and the Critical Path;
• the Milestones and the Scheduled Completion Date;
• the dates by which the Owner must provide its prerequisites, approvals, information and owner-supplied equipment;
• the periods for review of submittals by the Owner, the Owner’s engineer and authorities;
• allowances for the normal monsoon and other seasonal conditions at the site;
• the planned resources and the long-lead items.

Once accepted by the Owner (or deemed accepted if the Owner does not comment within the period in the Contract, typically 14 days), the programme becomes the Baseline Programme. Float in the programme is shared by the parties and is used on a first-come basis, unless the Contract provides otherwise.

Acceptance of the programme does not relieve either party of its obligations under the Contract, but the Owner’s dates shown in it become the dates by which the Owner’s prerequisites are expected.

Designs, drawings, datasheets, quality plans, vendor lists, method statements and test procedures are submitted to the Owner or its engineer for review in accordance with the document submission schedule.

• The Owner reviews each submission within the period stated in the Contract (typically 10 Business Days for the first submission and 7 Business Days for re-submissions) and either approves it, approves it with comments, or rejects it with reasons.
• If the Owner does not respond within that period, the submission is deemed approved, or BARREL is entitled to an extension of time for the period of the delay, as the Contract provides.
• Comments that go beyond the Contract’s requirements are treated as a change, under the clause on change orders.
• Factory inspections and witness tests requested by the Owner are scheduled on reasonable notice; if the Owner’s inspector does not attend on the agreed date, BARREL may proceed and the test is treated as witnessed.

Timely completion depends on the Owner providing certain things that only the Owner can provide. Unless the Contract allocates them to BARREL, the Owner is responsible for:

• Land: clear, encumbrance-free possession of the site, with title, conversion or lease documents, boundaries marked, and free of encroachment, crops, structures and disputes;
• Right of way: rights of way, way-leaves and compensation for transmission and distribution lines, access roads, evacuation corridors and crossings (railways, highways, rivers, forest land and other utilities);
• Statutory approvals that the Owner must obtain in its own name, such as project registration and allotment with the nodal agency, land-use and environmental clearances where required, forest clearance, consents from the pollution control board, approvals of the electrical inspectorate for owner-scope items, and permissions from local bodies;
• Connectivity and grid access: grant of connectivity and General Network Access (GNA) or other access under the applicable CERC or SERC regulations, the connection agreement, readiness of the utility’s bay, substation and transmission line, and availability of the grid for back-feed, testing and evacuation;
• Access and facilities: safe access to the site, construction power and water where the Contract says so, and space for storage and site offices;
• Payments: the advance and every Milestone payment on time, in accordance with the Payment and Liability Policy;
• Owner-supplied equipment and services: delivery to site, on the dates in the programme and in good condition, of any equipment, materials, designs, data or services the Owner has agreed to provide (for example modules, inverters, transformers, batteries or geotechnical data);
• Information and decisions: site data, existing drawings, approvals of submissions and decisions within the agreed periods.

BARREL reports progress to the Owner regularly so that delays are seen early. Unless the Contract states otherwise:

These reports may be shared through the BARREL Project Manager portal (pm.barrel.energy) where the Owner has access. Minutes and reports that the Owner does not dispute within 7 days are treated as an accurate record of the facts they describe. A report does not by itself grant or waive an extension of time; that requires the procedure below.

If actual progress falls behind the Baseline Programme for reasons for which BARREL is responsible, BARREL submits a recovery plan describing the measures it will take.

Every delay is assessed by its cause and its effect on the Critical Path. The Contract allocates the risk of each cause. In general:

A delay to an activity that is not on the Critical Path and does not use up all the available float does not extend the Scheduled Completion Date, but may still entitle BARREL to costs where the Owner caused it.

BARREL is entitled to an extension of time to the extent that completion of the works, a section or a Milestone is or will be delayed by any of the following, unless the Contract states otherwise:

• failure or delay of the Owner in fulfilling any prerequisite described in this Policy or the Contract;
• delay by the Owner, its engineer or an authority in reviewing submissions, issuing approvals, attending inspections or issuing certificates beyond the agreed periods;
• late or defective owner-supplied equipment, materials, designs or data;
• late payment of the advance or of any Milestone or other payment;
• a change order, variation or instruction of the Owner, including additional tests or inspections not required by the Contract;
• suspension of the works by the Owner other than for the Contractor’s default, or suspension by BARREL for non-payment;
• unforeseeable physical conditions at the site, such as ground conditions materially different from the geotechnical data provided, archaeological finds or contamination;
• interference by other contractors of the Owner, or by local communities, landowners or protests not caused by BARREL;
• unavailability or delay of the grid, the utility’s bay or line, shutdowns, or connectivity required for testing, back-feed or commissioning;
• force majeure events and change in law;
• any other cause stated in the Contract as entitling BARREL to an extension.

To keep claims fair and manageable, both parties follow this procedure (the periods are typical; those in the Contract prevail):

1. 1Notice of delay: within 14 days after BARREL became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, of the event or circumstance, it gives the Owner a written notice describing the event and stating that it may claim an extension of time and costs.
2. 2Contemporary records: from the notice, BARREL keeps records of the event, its effect on the works, resources and costs, and makes them available to the Owner.
3. 3Detailed claim: within 28 days after becoming aware of the event (or another period proposed by BARREL and accepted by the Owner), BARREL submits a detailed claim with the extension of time and costs claimed, the basis of the claim and a time-impact analysis on the current programme.
4. 4Continuing events: where the event continues, BARREL sends interim updates every 28 days and a final claim within 28 days after the effects of the event end.
5. 5Owner’s response: within 28 days after receiving a detailed claim (or further particulars it reasonably requested), the Owner responds with its agreement or determination, with reasons.
6. 6Programme update: the agreed or determined extension is incorporated into the programme and the Scheduled Completion Date and Milestone dates are revised.

If the Owner does not respond within the period, the claim is treated as rejected for the purposes of starting the dispute procedure, without affecting BARREL’s right to pursue it. Where the Contract makes a timely notice a condition of entitlement, a late notice may lose the claim, so BARREL gives notices promptly; where it does not, a late notice reduces the claim only to the extent the delay in notice prejudiced the Owner.

The Owner follows the same notice periods for any claim it makes for liquidated damages, costs or other relief relating to time.

Concurrent delay arises when two or more delay events of approximately equal effect occur at the same time, at least one for which BARREL is responsible and at least one for which the Owner is responsible or which is an extension of time event, and both affect the Critical Path.

• Unless the Contract states otherwise, BARREL is entitled to an extension of time for the period of concurrent delay, and the Owner may not claim liquidated damages for that period.
• BARREL is not entitled to delay costs for the period of concurrent delay unless it can show that the Owner-caused delay alone caused the costs.
• The parties use a recognised method of delay analysis (for example time-impact analysis on the updated programme) to identify the effect of each event.

The Owner may ask BARREL to complete earlier than the Scheduled Completion Date, or to recover a delay for which BARREL is entitled to an extension of time, instead of granting the extension.

• Any such request is treated as a change order. BARREL proposes the measures (for example additional shifts, labour, equipment or air freight), the revised dates and the additional cost, and acceleration starts only when the Owner accepts the proposal in writing.
• Where BARREL is late for its own reasons, it takes reasonable recovery measures at its own cost, as described in the recovery plan, without a change order.
• If the Owner rejects an extension of time that is later found to be due, and BARREL accelerated to meet the original date after notifying the Owner, the reasonable costs of that acceleration are recoverable.

Suspension by the Owner. The Owner may suspend all or part of the works by written instruction. Unless the suspension is caused by BARREL’s default, BARREL is entitled to an extension of time and to its reasonable costs of protecting, storing and securing the works, standby of resources, demobilisation and remobilisation. If a suspension continues for more than 90 days (or the period in the Contract), BARREL may ask the Owner to permit resumption; if permission is not given within 28 days, BARREL may treat the affected part as omitted by change order or, where the suspension affects the whole works, terminate the Contract.

Suspension by BARREL. If the Owner fails to pay an undisputed amount when due, or fails to provide a prerequisite or evidence of financial arrangements required by the Contract, BARREL may, after giving notice as set out in the Payment and Liability Policy, suspend or slow down the work. The resulting delay is an extension of time event and its costs are payable by the Owner.

During any suspension BARREL protects the works and materials on site to a reasonable standard. Equipment delivered but not installed because of an Owner suspension is paid for as the Contract provides, and title and risk follow the rules of the Contract.

If BARREL fails to achieve completion (or a Milestone carrying liquidated damages) by the Scheduled Completion Date, as extended, it pays the Owner liquidated damages at the rate and up to the cap stated in the Contract.

• The parties agree that liquidated damages are a genuine pre-estimate of the Owner’s loss from delay, under section 74 of the Indian Contract Act 1872, and not a penalty.
• Liquidated damages are the sole and exclusive remedy of the Owner for delay in completion or in the Milestones to which they apply. The Owner may not claim general damages for delay, except where the Contract allows termination after liquidated damages reach their cap.
• Liquidated damages are not payable for any period for which BARREL is entitled to an extension of time, whether or not the extension has yet been granted.
• Where part of the works is taken over or put into commercial operation, the liquidated damages for the remaining part are reduced in proportion to the value of the part taken over.
• Liquidated damages count towards the overall liability cap in the Contract and the Payment and Liability Policy.

Where the Contract provides for it, the Owner pays BARREL a bonus for achieving completion or commercial operation before the Scheduled Completion Date, at the rate and up to the cap stated in the Contract. Where there is no such provision, no bonus is payable.

Early completion requires the Owner’s readiness to accept the works, including grid availability and the Owner’s own approvals. BARREL does not accelerate beyond the Baseline Programme in pursuit of a bonus without the Owner’s agreement.

A force majeure event is an event or circumstance beyond the reasonable control of the affected party, which it could not reasonably have foreseen or provided against before entering into the Contract, and which it could not reasonably have avoided or overcome. For projects it includes, unless the Contract states otherwise:

• natural events: flood, cyclone, earthquake, landslide, lightning, drought, extreme heat warnings that legally stop outdoor work, and monsoon or rainfall beyond seasonal norms at the site, measured against the records of the India Meteorological Department for that location (normal seasonal rainfall is already allowed for in the programme and is not force majeure);
• epidemic, pandemic and quarantine restrictions;
• war, hostilities, terrorism, sabotage, riots and civil disturbance;
• strikes, bandhs and lockouts that are regional or national and not limited to the affected party’s workforce or subcontractors;
• acts, orders or restrictions of any government or authority, including embargoes, import restrictions and port closures, not caused by the affected party;
• grid unavailability: failure or unavailability of the transmission or distribution system, the utility’s bay or the evacuation infrastructure required for testing, commissioning or evacuation, not caused by the affected party;
• change in law: the enactment, amendment, repeal or change in interpretation of any law, regulation, tariff order, duty, tax, safeguard or anti-dumping measure, approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) or similar list, after the bid or signing date, that affects the time or cost of the works.

1. 1The affected party notifies the other within 7 days after becoming aware of the event, describing it and its expected effect, and then follows the extension of time procedure in this Policy.
2. 2It uses reasonable efforts to mitigate the delay and resumes full performance as soon as possible.
3. 3The time for performance is extended by the delay caused. Obligations to pay amounts already due are not excused.
4. 4If force majeure prevents substantially all of the works for a continuous period of 120 days (or the period in the Contract), either party may terminate by 30 days’ notice. The Owner then pays for work done, materials ordered and delivered, demobilisation and committed costs.

Costs arising from change in law are dealt with as the Contract provides; where it is silent, the Owner bears the increase and benefits from any decrease.

A change to the scope, specification, quantities, sequence, location, design basis or timing of the works requested by the Owner, or required by a change in law or by an Owner’s comment that goes beyond the Contract, is a change.

1. 1The Owner requests the change in writing, or BARREL identifies it and notifies the Owner.
2. 2BARREL submits a change proposal stating the work, its price and its effect on the programme, the Milestones and the Scheduled Completion Date, usually within 14 days.
3. 3The Owner accepts the proposal by issuing a written change order. Work on the change starts only after a signed change order, except in an emergency affecting safety.
4. 4The agreed time effect is incorporated into the programme and the dates are revised.

If the parties agree the work but not the price or time, BARREL proceeds on the Owner’s written instruction and the price or time is determined under the dispute procedure. Silence on time in a change order does not mean the change has no time effect; BARREL may claim it under the extension of time procedure.

The programme includes time for pre-commissioning, commissioning and tests on completion, and for the procedures of the utility, the electrical inspectorate, the load despatch centre and the nodal agency. Typical stages are:

1. 1Mechanical Completion: installation is complete and checked; BARREL notifies the Owner.
2. 2Inspection and charging approval: the electrical inspector’s approval and the utility’s permission for energisation are obtained (by the party the Contract makes responsible).
3. 3Pre-commissioning and commissioning: cold and hot tests, energisation, synchronisation and trial operation.
4. 4Performance tests: tests of capacity, performance ratio or other guaranteed parameters as specified in the Contract.
5. 5Taking Over and COD: the Owner issues the taking-over certificate within the period in the Contract (typically 7 to 14 days after successful tests), and commercial operation is declared under the applicable procedures.

• Completion for the purpose of liquidated damages is achieved at the stage stated in the Contract (often successful commissioning or Taking Over), not at the later COD declaration, if COD depends on actions of the Owner, the utility or the nodal agency.
• If tests cannot be carried out because of grid unavailability, the Owner’s failure to provide load, permits or personnel, or other reasons not attributable to BARREL, the works are treated as having passed the tests on the date they would otherwise have been carried out, or as the Contract provides, and BARREL carries out the tests later at the Owner’s cost.
• If the Owner uses any part of the works before Taking Over, that part is treated as taken over from the date of use.

The Defects Liability Period starts on the date of Taking Over of the works or of each section, and lasts for the period stated in the Contract (typically 12 to 24 months). Manufacturers’ warranties (for example product and performance warranties of modules, inverters and batteries) are separate and run for their own periods; BARREL passes them on to the Owner as the Contract provides.

• The Owner notifies a defect promptly in writing. BARREL attends within the response time stated in the Contract and remedies the defect within a reasonable time.
• The Defects Liability Period is extended for the part concerned by the period during which that part could not be used because of a defect for which BARREL is responsible, subject to the overall limit in the Contract (typically 24 months after Taking Over).
• Defects caused by normal wear and tear, misuse, operation outside the specification, maintenance by others or events after Taking Over are not covered.
• At the end of the period the Owner issues a performance or final certificate and releases the retention and performance security as the Contract provides.

By the Owner. If liquidated damages for delay reach their cap, or delay attributable to BARREL exceeds the period stated in the Contract, the Owner may give BARREL a written notice requiring it to complete within a reasonable period (not less than 30 days). If BARREL fails to do so or to present an acceptable recovery plan, the Owner may terminate the Contract in whole or for the delayed section, as the Contract provides. Termination is the Owner’s remedy in addition to liquidated damages already accrued, and subject to the liability cap in the Contract.

By BARREL. BARREL may terminate the Contract by written notice if (a) the Owner fails to pay an undisputed amount for more than 60 days after its due date, (b) the Owner’s prerequisites are not fulfilled, or an Owner suspension continues, for more than 120 days (or the period in the Contract) so that the works cannot proceed, or (c) the Owner becomes insolvent. The Owner then pays for work done, goods supplied or ordered, demobilisation, committed costs and other amounts the Contract provides.

Before terminating, each party gives the other a reasonable opportunity to remedy the cause, and the parties meet to try to agree a way forward.

The overall limitation of liability, the exclusion of indirect and consequential loss (including loss of generation and revenue) and the indemnities in the Contract and in the Payment and Liability Policy apply to all claims relating to time.

This Policy and the time provisions of any Contract that incorporates it are governed by the laws of India.

1. 1Disputes about time, extensions, liquidated damages or delay costs are first discussed by the project managers of both parties and, if not resolved within 14 days, by senior management within a further 21 days.
2. 2Where the Contract provides for an engineer’s determination, a dispute board or expert determination, that step follows.
3. 3If the dispute is still not resolved, it is referred to arbitration by a sole arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, as amended, with the seat and venue at Pune, Maharashtra, in English, unless the Contract provides for another arbitral procedure.
4. 4Subject to arbitration, the courts at Pune, Maharashtra have exclusive jurisdiction, including for interim relief.

Work continues during a dispute, unless the Contract has been terminated or suspended in accordance with its terms. Where BARREL is a micro or small enterprise, its rights under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006 are not affected.

BARREL may update this Policy from time to time by publishing a new version on its website. A Contract signed before the update continues to follow the version it incorporated, unless both parties agree otherwise.

Version 1.0, effective 10 November 2026.

Questions about this Policy or about a project programme: Bharat Atom Renewable Resources Energy Limited, RH 11, Mayfair Eleganza - II, NIBM Road, Kondhwa Kh., Pune 411048, Maharashtra, India, email contact@barrel.energy, telephone +91 90755 77366. Notices under a Contract must be given as the Contract specifies; please quote the project name and Contract number.

Grievance Officer: the person designated by BARREL from time to time, reachable at contact@barrel.energy (subject line 'Grievance') and +91 90755 77366, RH 11, Mayfair Eleganza - II, NIBM Road, Kondhwa Kh., Pune 411048, Maharashtra, India. The Grievance Officer acknowledges a grievance within 24 hours and resolves it within 15 days, or within any shorter time the law sets.