Yash Birla Group to invest Rs 5,400 cr in new solar wafers unit

Birla Surya Ltd, a part of the diversified Yash Birla Group, is set to invest $1.2 billion (Rs 5,400 crore) over five years to set up an integrated facility for fabrication of multi-crystalline silicon wafers and the processing of solar photovoltaic cells.

The first phase of the project will entail an investment of Rs 1,493 crore, funded through a debt of Rs 970 crore, said Mr Yashovardhan Birla, Chairman.

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.

Asia Pacific Capital will invest $15 million (Rs 68 Crore) as private equity in the project. Birla Surya will start commercial production by December, Mr Birla said.

The proposed project will be located at Rajawada in Satara District in Maharashtra. Birla Surya has acquired land for phase-1 of the project and is in process of acquiring land for expansion simultaneously.

The company has received Government approvals to set up the project and currently the civil construction is being carried out by Larsen and Toubro. It has signed contracts with technology suppliers such as Roth & Rau AG of Germany, GT Solar of USA, Herbert Arnold GmbH & Co. KG of Germany and RENA GmbH of Germany.

It has also signed contracts with manufacturers of utility equipment. Giving an overview of the solar industry, Mr Birla said, “India is among the top five countries globally in terms of renewable energy capacity with an installed base of over 19,000 MW of grid interactive renewable power – around 11 per cent of our total installed capacity. Also, it adds about 2,500 MW of renewable power annually. It recently launched the ambitious National Solar Mission with a target capacity of 20 GW by 2022.”