Aditya Birla to invest in solar power business

The Aditya Birla group plans will address the demand for clean energy through Rs 6,000 crore investments in solar power business over the next five years.

The investments will also achieve the Indian government's target of setting up 20 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022.

"We are getting ready for a large-scale rollout as solar energy holds the potential to replace the conventional sources of energy. It offers a great potential to scale up," said Dev Bhattacharya, head, strategy, Aditya Birla group.

So far, the conglomerate has acquired a minority stake in a solar power venture promoted by Electrotherm in Gujarat's solar park and struck a long-term leasing agreement with Refex Energy in Rajasthan to operate a solar plant at Bithuja in Rajasthan. These units have a capacity to produce 1.55 million units of electricity per mw annually.

Essel Mining, the unlisted firm owned by Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, is in the process of setting up an independent company as it seeks to develop a capacity of 100 mw over the next 18 months. The group has so far invested a little more than Rs 200 crore to develop 20 mw capacities in solar power.

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