Tata Group To Develop A Solar Project For Rs 3,000 Crore In Tamil Nadu

The Tata group's solar power arm plans to invest an amount of Rs 3,000 crore in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu to develop a four-gigawatt integrated solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing plant. The company is apparently nearing the completion of an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to build a solar facility at Gangaikondan, which will help the state enhance its solar power capacity over the next ten years.

First Solar will invest $684 million on a completely vertically integrated photovoltaic thin film solar module production plant with a capability of 3.3 gigawatts, which is set to open in the second half of 2023.

By 2030, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) wants to generate about 25 GW of renewable energy. A 20 GW solar project, a 3 GW hydropower project, and 2 GW of gas-based generating units will be part of it.

One of the top government sources claimed that the investment would be roughly Rs 3,000 crore and the project may provide work to 2,000 local people, mostly women. Tamil Nadu already has the Vikram solar project, which opened its 1.2 GW production in Oragadam earlier this year. First Solar, located in the United States, also held a groundbreaking ceremony for its greenfield plant in Chennai.

Tata Power received an order amounting to Rs 1,200 crore from state-run power firm NTPC in January 2021 for the construction of a 320 MW ground-mounted solar plant. The project's order value is estimated to be over Rs 1,200 crore ($162 million). The project is scheduled to begin commercial operations in May 2022.

Meanwhile, For Rs 60,000 crore, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance plans to develop four "Giga" plants in Jamnagar to produce solar photovoltaic cells, green hydrogen, batteries, and fuel cells. Reliance's plans to create 100 GW of solar energy generation capacity will be fuelled by these manufacturing complexes. While Adani is also stepping up its solar efforts, with plans to produce photovoltaic modules for a 3.5GW solar power plant.