Gujarat-headquartered Adani Enterprises on Sunday announced an investment of $4 billion (nearly Rs 25,000 crore) in joint venture with US’ SunEdison to set up an integrated solar photo-voltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in India.
The steel to power conglomerate promoted by Gautam Adani made the announcement at the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat 2015 summit.
The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the joint venture project.
The facility will create enough solar panels to fuel substantial solar growth in India, furthering India’s goals for clean, renewable energy independence, the company said in a statement.
“The development of the largest integrated solar manufacturing facility is a step towards the vision of ‘Make in India’ campaign. We are happy to partner with SunEdison, a leading solar technology manufacturer to build this facility. This facility would further integrate our power – renewable business value chain and would significantly increase the socio-economic benefits,” said Vneet S Jaain, CEO of Adani Power, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises.
The $4 billion facility will be set up in Mundra, Gujarat in the next three to four years. This facility will vertically integrate all aspects of solar panel production on site, including polysilicon refining, ingots, wafers, cells and panels production with a broader ecosystem involving extended supply chain for raw materials and consumables.
Ahmad Chatila, president and chief executive officer of SunEdison said the project would help in creating 4,500 direct jobs and over 15,000 indirect jobs.
MoU with Australia’s Woodside Energy
The 52-year-old Adani-owned firm also signed an MoU with Australian energy firm Woodside Energy for cooperation on exploring business opportunities across a broad spectrum in the oil and gas sector in India, as part of the Vibrant Gujarat initiative.
Adani will jointly explore opportunities in sourcing of liquefied natural gas (LNG), supply and purchase arrangements for India, LNG marketing and investment in upstream activities with Australia’s second-biggest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum. The Indian conglomerate is already developing a multi-billion dollar Carmichael coal and railway project in the north Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, Australia.
Woodside Energy is involved in the Australian LNG project — the North West Shelf — one of the world’s premier liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.
