Lanco Solar, a subsidiary of Lanco Infratech Limited (LITL) is setting up India's first integrated Solar PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.
The SEZ would come up in about 250 acres of land near Chavardhal village, about 20 km from the district headquarters of Rajnandgaon and 110 km from the state capital of Chhattisgarh. The land that was earlier acquired by the Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) had been allotted to the company for the project.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh laid the foundation stone for the SEZ project today afternoon. Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah was the Guest of Honour.
"The SEZ project is being developed in phases and will have integrated facilities for manufacture of Polysilicon, Ingots, wafers, PV Cells and PV modules with capacities of 250 MW/year equivalent", Chairman of LITL L Madhusudhan Rao said.
The first phase of the project with an investment of Rs 1370 crore, consisting of Polysilicon, Ingots & Wafers, will be completed in 15-16 months and will be fully operational by year 2012, he said, adding that the company would invest a total of Rs 3000 crore in the project.
The state-of-the-art project is the first such integrated solar photovoltaic facility coming up in India, putting the country and the State of Chhattisgarh in the global map of polysilicon production bases. The facility, which will create direct and indirect employment for 8000 people, is being designed to produce polysilicon of very high purity (micro-electronic grade) and will be set up using technology from Germany and USA.
The project will enhance local entrepreneurship in many fields such as aluminum frame manufacturing, chemical process industries, electrical and electronic industries and construction industry. Small and Medium enterprises such as cutting tools, graphite machining, glass manufacturing, quartz crucible production,panel and switchgear repairing, PLC and robotics-cum-automation servicing, pallets and plastic packaging industry and ash bricks for servicing and maintenance would additionally provide job opportunities for a large number of people in and around the area.
Madhusudhan said India's 1st Solar PV manufacturing SEZ would provide components not only for Lanco projects but for the whole industry. It would also help the country in developing critical technologies in the solar energy sector and prove as a stepping stone for future of solar power in India, he added.
The units to come up in the SEZ would be developed by the Lanco Solar.
