In its endeavour to promote innovative industrial projects aligned with national priorities, the Chhattisgarh Government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with subsidiary of lanco Infratech limited — lanco Solar Private limited for manufacturing of 100 mw solar cells annually.
This is the first Poly-silicon and Wafer manufacturing facility coming up in India. With an investment of Rs 290 crore, more than 150 direct employment opportunities will be created in the State, officials stated.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Raman Singh said during the last decade progressive industrial policies and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in Chhattisgarh have been attracting lots of investment in the State and have seen many corporates being part of the growth story of Chhattisgarh.
The State is committed to make National Solar Mission a great success and achieve 100 Gw of Solar power target in the country by 2022. The State would contribute to this national goal by being one of the leading States to provide equipment for the sector, he said.
Chhattisgarh being a mineral and power surplus State offers opportunities of low-cost of manufacturing which would give an edge the manufacturers in the State in the globally competitive solar equipment market, Singh said.
Specialized skilled manpower would be required to cater to such industry which had just started spreading its tentacles in India. The State would provide required infrastructure and other support to ensure skilled manpower for the industry, the Chief Minister said.
With globally employable skills the skilled workforce in this sector will have better negotiation skills and employment opportunities. The State invites the manufacturers to the State to make it solar equipment manufacturing destination of the country, he said.
The 100 mw cell line facility is part of the integrated manufacturing solar plant of lanco, which currently manufactures PV Modules and has polysilicon and Wafer plant under construction. The plant is expected to be functional by January 2017.
The integrated facility, once operational will manufacture PV modules from polysilicon which would further induce an investment of more than Rs 2,000 crore and create over 2000 direct and indirect employment opportunities in the State. The MoU was signed between Subodh Kumar Singh, Secretary Commerce & Industries, and Raj Kumar Roy, President, M/s lanco Infratech limited in the presence of Chief Minister Raman Singh; Vivek Dhand, Chief Secretary; l Madhusudhan Rao, Executive Chairman of lanco Infratech ltd.; Aman Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Rajesh Sukumar Toppo, Director, Public Relations, Rajat Kumar, Joint Secretary to Chief Minister, Kartikeya Goel, Director, Industries and other senior State government officials.
The project is to be set up in 250 acres Solar Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in Rajnandgaon district of the State. The 'Solar SEZ' in Rajnandgaon having plug and play facilities for solar component manufacturers is being developed under National Solar Mission with objective of achieving domestic PV cell production of 2200 mw/year and boost ambitious ‘Make in India’ programme of the Central Government.
Under National Solar Mission, 30 epr cent of solar components are to be manufactured domestically and with this kind of state-of-the-art infrastructure in SEZ in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh would be able to attract more innovative projects bringing whooping investments and employment opportunities in the State. Solar equipment manufacturers from across the globe have evinced keen interest in starting their facility in the SEZ in Rajnandgaon in response to our communication with them through embassies.
This will also contribute significantly in achieving national target of 100 gw solar power and US $100 Billion investment in the sector by 2022.
The Government of Chhattisgarh and lanco are inviting various private solar manufacturing companies in this 250 acre ‘plug & play’ SEZ location with readily available infrastructure facilities
such as abundant water and power. The State Government is also encouraging skill development in association with the National Skill Development Centre and a consortium of Private companies in PPP mode with a target of providing 50,000 skilled manpower in 10 years across 7 centres in the State.
Commenting on Chhattisgarh government’s initiative., l Madhusudhan Rao, Chairman, lancoInfratech said, the company welcomes government’s initiative of accelerating the development and green energy mission by inviting participation from foreign players who will not only bring in technological know-how but will also create employment opportunities.
The company is elated to be associated with the first Poly-silicon and Wafer manufacturing facility coming up in India which is bringing state of Chhattisgarh on global Silicon map, he said. At the same time it plays anchor industry role to attract investments in ancillary manufacturing units. As a crucial support to solar initiatives of Central Government we are also working towards setting up a Solar PV specific Skill Development facility with its main centre in Rajnandgaon, Rao said.