January 27, 2015: Mahindra Group, a well known name in the automobiles and allied industries, has announced its plans to expand the renewable energy business by investing nearly Rs 45 billion over a period of three to four years. The announcement came amid government’s plans to push renewable and clean energy. The investment will be Rs 33 billion in debt and rest from company’s cash funds.
Under its expansion plans, Mahindra group will set up solar power projects with total capacity of 500MW by end of March 2016, up from 180MW the company plans to complete by March 2015.
According to prime minister Narendra Modi, if India plans to achieve 100GW of solar energy generation by 2022, India will need an investment of $200 billion. Nearly half of this investment will be made by foreign companies.
During US president Barack Obama’s visit to India, the president has pledged nearly $2 billion investment in India’s renewable energy sector.
Interestingly, US companies including First Solar and SunEdison Inc have already made an investment in India, Canadian Solar, China’s JinkoSolar plan to invest.
Mahindra’s renewable energy segment, formed in 2011, builds solar power projects and offers off-grid power solutions.