Lanco bets big on solar, starts PV plant

Lanco is one of the 37 companies selected by India last year to build solar power projects, as the country moves forward with an ambitious plan that seeks to significantly scale up production from near zero to 20 gigawatts by 2022.

The company's new plant, located in a special economic zone, will be developed in phases and will have integrated facilities to manufacture polysilicon, ingots, wafers, PV cells and PV modules with capacities of 250 mega watts per year equivalent.

Lanco Solar, the solar arm of Lanco Infratech, also secured contracts for establishing solar power generation projects to be built in Punjab, it said.

Indian government's push to use domestically made components in solar projects are forcing many companies to set up new plants and expand aggressively in the country.

On Wednesday, Moser Baer India Ltd said it started producing junction boxes, a critical component in solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, at its facility in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

Traditional PV modules made by companies like First Solar and Suntech directly convert sunlight into electricity and make up the largest chunk of the solar market.