Adani Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Group, is on track to develop a 1 gigawatt solar park at Kamuthi in Ramathapuram district, Tamil Nadu.
Adani Group had been exploring options to develop such a project in the south Indian state since early this year. The move has come in the wake of deals with the governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat to develop large-scale solar parks.
The proposed plant in Tamil Nadu will require an estimated investment of Rs7,000 crore (Rs7 crore/megawatt). Business Standard has reported the development quoting sources in the state government and the company.
According to BS, the project would be developed in four phases. Acquisition of 5,000 acres for the project is under way and installation of panels is to commence in another eight months, the report adds.
Earlier this year, Adani Enterprises signed deals with the Rajasthan government (1 gigwatt in 10 years) and the Gujarat government (investment of $4 billion) for the development of solar parks. Adani was to build the Gujarat project jointly with American renewable energy developer SunEdison.
The government of Tamil Nadu has been keen on developing its solar power capacity to 3 gigawatts by the end of this year. M Saikumar, the managing director and chairman of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), told BS that already more than 200 companies expressed interest in signing power purchase agreements totaling 2 gigawatts.
Separately, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board also has plans to develop solar projects with total capacity of 200 megawatts at Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts.
Ajith Kumar S