XL Telecom to invest Rs 1,100 cr over 6 yrs

XL Telecom and Energy, a Hyderabad-based telecom and solar photovoltaic systems company, is planning to expand its non-conventional energy portfolio by investing around Rs 1,100 crore over the next five-six years.

This includes setting up a 120 mw solar cell manufacturing facility at an investment of Rs 265 crore, and expanding capacity at its 100 per cent export-oriented solar photovoltaic module plant from 25 mw to 65 mw, costing Rs 40 crore.

"We have applied for 25 acres near the Fab City on the city outskirts for setting up the solar cell manufacturing plant and awaiting the state government approval. In all probability, the project should start commercial production by July 2008," Dinesh Kumar, managing director of XL Telecom, told mediapersons here today.

On completion, the company would become the largest producer of solar cells in the country catering to the European countries (especially the Mediterraean region) and the US, accounting for 2 per cent of the global production, he added.

Stating that the company might raise around $40 million (approximately Rs 160 crore) by way of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and issue of warrants up to 5.25 million to promoters and others to fund the expansion, he said the remaining fund would be raised from financial institutions and banks.

Keeping in view the long-term contracts in its ethanol business, XL Telecom is in the process of establishing a Rs 65-crore backward integration project near Pune for the manufacture of special denatured spirit, the feedstock for ethanol production.

"Land acquisition has been completed and construction work on the distillery plant has commenced. We would rely on internal accruals for raising around 20 per cent of the investment, and the rest through term loans.

The plant is expected to go on stream by May 2008," Kumar said, adding: "We expect the telecom, solar and ethanol divisions to contribute Rs 350 crore, Rs 210 crore and Rs 91 crore respectively during the current financial year."

XL entered the capital market in December last year and infused the IPO proceeds of Rs 60 crore into its solar module manufacturing facility.

It started production in April and in the process of obtaining TuV approvals, a pre requisite for exports to Europe.

"The first consignment would be shipped once we get the TuV certification," he added. The company's scrip is hovering around Rs 164 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.