Bhaskar Silicon to set-up India's first polysilicon power plant for Rs5,500 crore
22 Aug 2008
Kolkata: The state of Kolkata will soon have the world's largest integrated solar power project. Bhaskar Silicon Limited will build a solar project at Haldia with a total investment of Rs5,500 crore, which is also the first polysilicon plant in India.
The company has tied up with German firm Centrotherm Photovoltaics AG for setting up the solar plant. Infrastructure financing company SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited would part-finance this project.
Initially the power plant will be constructed across 200 acres of land, which the company has acquired from the state government. The company expects to complete the first phase by 2009 with an investment of Rs350 crore.
The company says that the plant is expected to generate 250 MW of solar power annually. It is in talks with the government for another 600 acres in future for the next phases.
The plant targets to produce 2,500 tonnes of polysilicon annually in the second phase in 2010 and 5,000 tonnes after two years, according to Jyoti Poddar, managing director, Bhaskar Silicon. The plant will also manufacture chips for semiconductors for information technology sector, in its second phase, he added.
The state government is expected to invest in the equity of the project through its Green Power Corporation.
The project is being launched in line with the central government's vision of having 5,000 MW of solar power by 2012 which will require 50,000 tonnes of polysilicon.