The $40bn retail-to-telecom company acquired a minority stake in a solar power venture promoted by Electrotherm in Gujarat’s solar park besides strucking a long-term leasing agreement with Refex Energy to operate a solar plant at Bithuja in Rajasthan, reported by The Economic Times.
These units have a capacity to produce 1.55MWh of electricity per installed MW per annum Aditya Birla Group strategy head Dev Bhattacharya remarked that the company is getting ready for a large scale roll out as solar energy holds the potential to replace conventional energy sources.
"We have set a target of $1 billion over the next 5-6 years," added Bhattacharya.
The solar power venture will seek to secure businesses by trading in renewable energy certificates, set up plants which come under renewable power obligations and bid for projects offered under the national solar mission.
Essel Mining, an unlisted firm owned by Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is also in the process of setting up an independent company to develop 100MW capacity over the next 18 months and invested over $38.5m to develop 20 mw capacities in solar power.
