By IANS,
Kolkata : Kolkata-based Vikram Solar, a leading solar product manufacturer, is likely to commission its 40-MW solar power generating plant in Rajasthan by the end of January 2013, investing more than Rs.410 crore.
The firm, an arm of Vikram Group and a top photo-voltaic (PV) solar-module-maker, has already signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Rajasthan government.
“Our own solar power plant in Rajasthan will be commissioned by January next year. It is being set up under the National Solar Mission,” Gyanesh Chaudhary, Vikram Solar director, told IANS.
The National Solar Mission, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January 2010, has an ambitious target of installing 20,000 MW of solar energy by 2020. For this the government has signed PPAs with different solar power developers for solar PV projects.
“We are investing more than Rs.410 crore in the Rajasthan project,” Chaudhary said.
Vikram Solar has already commissioned a 2 MW solar project in Chhattisgarh, 5 MW solar power plant in Gujarat and a 1 MW project in Rourkela in Orissa, among others.
The company was currently in talks with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up facilities there, Chaudhary said.
The firm entered into a tie-up with Spanish solar power company Proener Renovables last year to take up engineering procurement construction (EPC) contracts for large solar power projects in India and overseas.
Vikram Solar GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of the firm, has a 1.6 MW plant in Kottenheim in Germany.
According to Shaibal Ghosh, president, international business and head – marketing, the company is successfully running projects in France, Italy and Spain.
The company is also in the process of doubling its capacity in a photo-voltaic cell plant in the special economic zone (SEZ) at Falta in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, spending Rs.100 crore.
“At Falta, we have 70 MW solar power production capacity. We are in the process of doubling it. By the end of December this year, the full capacity of the plant will be 140 MW,” Ghosh added.