Azure Power, an independent solar power producer, is in the process to set up 15 Mw solar photovoltaic power project in Gujarat. The company has also inked an agreement with the state government.
"The proposed plant will come up at Dahegam near Gandhinagar and the investment would be around Rs 255 crore as Rs 17 crore is required to produce 1 Mw of power from solar energy," said Inderpreet Wadhwa, chief executive officer, Azure Power.
The company has identified 75 acres of land for the project at Dahegam and the plant is expected to be commissioned by 2011. Azure Power is currently negotiating with the state government for power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply power to the state.
Azure Power, which is the first private sector company to implement a megawatt scale grid connected solar photo-voltaic power plant in India, also intends to increase its installed capacity for solar power generation in Gujarat to 50 to 60 Mw in next three years.
In fact, the company plans to implement several Mw scale solar power plants across the country over the next 12 months. It has already inked agreements with governments of Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka and is in talks with state governments of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, Helion Advisors, Foundation Capital as well as IFC, a member of the Word Bank Group, today announced that they would invest in Azure's projects. Earlier, Helion Advisors and Foundation Capital had provided funding to Azure's Series A investment programme.
IFC has for the first time invested in solar project under under its newly established cleantech investment programme.