Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday signed an MoU with solar energy solutions provider Vikram Solar to set up a Battery Energy Storage Systems manufacturing plant at an investment of Rs 15,037 crore at SIPCOT Industrial Park in Gangaikondan, Tirunelveli district.
The mega project will create direct and indirect employment opportunities to 2,670 people, an official release here said.
The MoU was signed at the Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay during an event organised by the Department of Industries, Investment Promotion, and Commerce.
The company’s newest manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu is spread across 6 lakh square feet of land and is expected to generate employment for over 1,500 skilled workers, Vikram Solar said in its press release.
“The investment supports regional industrial development while expanding India’s clean energy manufacturing base. It is a highly automated plant built to the latest standards in module manufacturing,” it added.
The manufacturing unit integrates advanced automation with digital manufacturing technologies to help improve efficiency, quality and reliability, the company said. Key capabilities at the facility comprise a production process, complete traceability of every module manufactured, and automated inspection systems.
Additionally, the plant uses smart systems to automatically grade, sort, and package modules. “The first products manufactured at the plant are Vikram Solar’s Hypersol N-Type TOPCon G12R modules. They deliver 615-640 Wp of rated power with module efficiencies of up to 23.69%,” the company said in its exchange filing.
Vikram Solar noted that in the coming years, the facility will include house module, cell, water, and ingot manufacturing units as well. By the end of FY27, the company intends to establish 9GW of solar cell manufacturing capacity and expand it by another 3 GW by FY28. Vikram Solar said that by FY29-30 the firm aims to add 12 GW of water and ingot manufacturing capacity.
Commenting on the development, Gyanesh Chaudhary, Chairman & Managing Director, Vikram Solar, said: “Having crossed 10 GW in cumulative global module deployments earlier this year, we are building capacity against demonstrated demand. We are building an integrated manufacturing platform aligned with India’s domestic content framework strengthening supply chain resilience.”
He added that the new plant is an investment in the future of domestic solar manufacturing.
Following the announcement, Vikram Solar’s stock fell more than 2% on the NSE, trading near its 52-week low mark. Over the past month, its share price has decreased by over 11%, while over the past six months it has declined by 23%.
So far this year, Vikram Solar’s share price has fallen nearly 22%
