— PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

BOOST TO PV TECHNOLOGY: Union Information and Technology Minister, A. Raja (centre), and Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Vilas Muttemwar, holding a photovoltaic module at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. Rajeeva Lehri (left), President and CEO, Signet Solar, looks on.

NEW DELHI: The U.S.-based Signet Solar on Thursday announced plans to invest $2 billion in India for establishing its manufacturing base. The company will set up its research and design centre in India, besides making Delhi its headquarters for the Asian market.

"We will be setting up three solar photovoltaic manufacturing facilities, also known as fabs in the semiconductor industry. The first unit will come up in 2008, with each manufacturing facility having an annual output of about 300 MW. The investment will be spread over 10 years that would produce over 1 Gigawatt (1GW) of annual output for export and Indian market,'' company CEO and President Rajeeva Lahri said at a press conference here.

Silicon photovoltaic modules are devices that convert Sun's rays into electricity for applications such as solar farms (large ground mounted solar power plants), rural electrification, residential rooftop and building integrated photovoltaic applications. Thin film silicon technology enables over 40 per cent cost advantage over other mainstream solar technologies.

"Signet Solar, which has already started construction of its first global manufacturing facility in Germany, is keen on making India its manufacturing hub as the country has skilled manpower and is also a large growing energy market,'' Mr. Lahri said. The Centre is giving a 20 per cent capital subsidy if fabrication units are set up in SEZs and 25 per cent in non-SEZ areas.

Speaking at the conference, Union Communication and IT Minister A. Raja said, "The guidelines for operationalising the recently announced `Special incentive package scheme' will be issued soon, while an appraisal committee has already been set up in this connection."

Stating that Signet Solar's plans to establish manufacturing operations in India were timely, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar said, "Cost effective alternative power generation technologies and power plants would be essential to help manage peak power demand and distributed power for rural electrification, while being sensitive to the environment."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail