Yash Birla Group to invest Rs 5,400 crore in Solar PV business

July 21, 2011 12:09 pm

Birla Surya Limited, a part of Yash Birla Group (YBG) is set to invest approximately Rs 5,400 crore over the next five years to build India’s first largest integrated facility for fabrication of multi crystalline silicon wafers and processing of solar photovoltaic cells. In the first phase, the company will set up manufacturing facilities for 60 MWp of multi-crystalline Solar Photovoltaic Cells and fabrication of 125 MWp multi-crystalline Silicon Wafers using Solar Grade Silicon (SGS). The first phase will entail an investment of Rs 1,493 crore, funded through a mix of equity and debt. The company has tied up for long-term debt to the extent of Rs 970.50 crore. The project is entitled to a capital subsidy of 25 per cent under the special incentive package scheme of GoI.Yash Birla, Chairman of Yash Birla Group said, “We have already contributed Rs 254 crore into the project till date out of a sum of Rs 792 crore (including debt) that has been infused into the project towards advances to equipment / technology suppliers, land and site development. We would commence commercial production of Phase I by December 2011”. He has also hinted about the group’s intention of providing end-to-end solutions in solar power generation.The proposed project is located in Satara District in Maharashtra. The Company has already acquired land for phase 1 of the project and is in the process of acquiring land for the future expansion simultaneously. According to Mohan Datari, CEO, Birla Surya Limited (BSL), the Company has signed contracts with leading technology suppliers like Roth & Rau AG of Germany, GT Solar of USA, Herbert Arnold GmbH & Co. KG of Germany, RENA GmbH of Germany etc. It has also signed contracts with leading manufacturers of utility equipment. Other contractors are: L&T (civil construction), Sterling & Wilson (electrical accessories), Ionex (effluent treatment), MK Welenkar & associates (architectural design), UTC Fire & Security (fire and security), and Carrier Airconditioning (chillers).