Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) is looking to set-up 600 MW solar equipment manufacturing facility at a cost of Rs 20 billion. The company is betting big on sectors like solar energy, which is said to evolve over the next decade or so. “Initial investment could be around Rs 5 to 6 billion and then when we (can) expand it. On the whole, the figure can go up to Rs 20 billion for a 600 MW capacity,” said B P Rao, chairman and director, BHEL.
BHEL’s decision to set-up solar equipment manufacturing unit, comes amidst the recent incidents, which clearly suggest that solar products are being imported in the country at a cheaper cost, which has hampered growth of the producers within the country.
“Initially, we are going to concentrate on the module production, which is the end product. Later, we will manufacture solar cells and (other) materials,” Rao said. Later on, the company would also get into manufacturing silicon wafer, solar cell and solar modules.
Recently, we had reported that the electronics company is pitching for duty to be imposed on imported solar equipment in-order to safeguard local companies. According to BHEL, solar equipment from some countries, notable China, US are being dumped into India at prices lower than their market value, which have been observed to be of low quality and solar producers in the country have ordered such instances to be probed.
