Shree Ganesh jewellery aims to generate 500 MW solar power

Kolkata, April 12 (IANS) Kolkata-based jewellery maker Shree Ganesh Jewellery House Ltd (SGJHL), which recently forayed into solar power business, Thursday said it is aiming to scale up its generation to about 500 MW in the next three years.

The jewellery maker has recently picked up majority stake in Kolkata-based Alex Group of Companies, promoted by the Sureka Group.

SGJHL has set up a 25 MW solar power project in Gujarat, executed through Alex Group.

Set up at Rs.4 billion, the project started its commercial production from April 4.

The company has zeroed in at Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand, Orissa, and Bihar for setting up solar power plants.

Besides these, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding for setting up an additional 25 MW in Gujarat solar park, and has applied for further 50 MW that is under consideration of the Gujarat state government.

The company is also planning to set up a 1000-acre solar park and is in discussion with the state governments of Orissa, UP and Bihar.

"We are in talks with three different state governments - Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We will provide them with the technological know-how and set up the park on behalf for," Nilesh Parekh, chairman of SGJHL, said.

The total investment earmarked by the company in expanding their presence in the solar power sector is about Rs.50 billion.

"The funding will be done through a mixture of private equity participation and internal accruals. We are in talks with a few large private equity players and at the same time we are also in advanced stages of discussion with the state governments as well," said Parekh.