Cleantech Ventures, a part of Mahindra Partners focusing on solar energy , is planning to expand its operations to water treatment and management, and energy efficiency in the next one or two years.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of commissioning a 75-KW rooftop solar plant at Mahindra World City here, Vish Palekar, business head – Cleantech Ventures, said, “At present 100 per cent of our business is in the solar energy sector. We will be expanding into some other segments like energy efficiency and water treatment in the next year or two.”
He said they were evaluating possibilities of bidding for state government projects also. This includes a rooftop solar power project in Tamil Nadu. The company is also looking to offer hybrid energy option to telecom tower companies in collaboration with diesel generator manufacturer Mahindra Powerol.
Sangeeta Prasad, CEO, Mahindra World City Developers Ltd, said the integrated business city including special economic zone on the outskirts of Chennai, was expecting the total investment in it to go up to around Rs 6,000 crore from the now Rs 3,000 crore in next six to seven years when fully operational.
Since its inception in 2002, promoters of the business city, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd, and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco) along with customers, have so far invested in the premises. Spread across 1,550 acre, it has around 60 customers at present and around 25,000 employees.
“We are expecting the workforce here to grow to 80,000-100,000 once the business city is fully occupied and operational,” she said.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd, the real estate arm of the Mahindra Group, is in the process of developing its third business city in Gujarat, at Dholera, in collaboration with the state government, on around 3,000 acres. It is expected to come up with Rs 2,000 crore.
The new rooftop solar plant, developed by Mahindra EPC Services – off-grid division, in the Chennai facility at a cost of around Rs 1.5 crore, is expected to generate around 116,000 units of clean electrical energy annually. The plant, set up under Cleantech Ventures would offset emissions of nearly 60 tonne carbon dioxide every year by decreasing diesel usage.
Mahindra Lifespace to develop 3 mn sft next fiscal
Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd, the real estate development arm of Mahindra and Mahindra Group, is planning to develop 3 million sft of residential space in the next financial year. The company also plans to enter the Hyderabad market and is evaluating business plans in Bangalore, said Anita Arjundas, managing director and CEO, Mahindra Lifespace Developers.
It would add one project each in Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai next fiscal, of which Hyderabad would be a new market. The company has so far completed development of 7 million sft and another 4 million sft is under development. She said, “We are not looking at any fund raising at present. We have a cash surplus of Rs 150 crore.”
