NEW DELHI (Reuters) - SunEdison is to develop 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity in India's southern Karnataka state, the company said on Tuesday, boosting the Indian government's efforts to increase the wind and solar power generation.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed with the state government, SunEdison said it will build a mix of solar and wind power plants over the next five years, with between 1 and 1.5 GW of capacity built before the end of 2016.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants foreign companies to lead investments of $100 billion over seven years to boost India's solar energy capacity by 33 times to 100 GW to help to meet rising demand and end frequent electricity outages.
SunEdison announced plans this week to invest up to $4 billion with conglomerate Adani Enterprises in a solar panel plant in Gujarat.
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by David Goodman)
