Luminous starts 250 MW solar panel factory in Uttarakhand's Rudrapur

India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through coal-fired electricity, and solar energy could be seen as one of the avenues to reduce the dependence of conventional sources of power.

Energy solutions company Luminous Power Technologies inaugurated its solar panel factory in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, on Thursday. The unit has a capacity of 250 MW, and is expandable up to 1 GW. The launch of the unit comes close on the heels of the central government launching its solar rooftop scheme called PM Suryodaya Yojana.

The rooftop solar project of the centre, with an investment of over Rs 75,000 crores, aims to light up 1 crore households and help them get about 300 units of free electricity every month. The inauguration of the solar plant marks an important milestone for Luminous, with the company undertaking strategic business decisions to evolve from manufacturing an inverter, and battery categories to building solar energy management ecosystem.

The launch event was graced by cricketer and Luminous brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar. Being the largest solar panel factory in Uttarakhand, the factory is spread over an area of 10 acres. It is fully automated and equipped with the latest and cutting-edge solar module manufacturing technologies.

"Solar will be a significant part of our business, and we see it as a major growth enabler as we aim to double our growth in the next three years. We believe that solar is the future, and as demand for clean energy sources continues to rise, we are committed to being a leading company in this energy transformation journey," said Preeti Bajaj, MD and CEO of Luminous Power Technologies. Luminous has been in business for 35 years now.

Manish Pant, Chairman of Luminous Board and Executive VP - International Operations, Schneider Electric, "This factory is a significant step towards achieving the collective goal of Schneider and Luminous to promote net-zero practices and sustainable energy solutions. With this state-of-the-art facility, Luminous is well-positioned to further accelerate its solar business, given India's evolving renewable energy market." India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through coal-fired electricity, and solar energy could be seen as one of the avenues to reduce the dependence of conventional sources of power.

At COP26 held in 2021, India committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge. They included reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. India as a whole also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070.

About 44 per cent of India's energy requirements at present come from non-fossil sources and are likely to touch as high as 65 per cent by 2030, much higher than what the country pledged at the COP summit in 2021, Union Minister RK Singh, who handles power and renewable portfolio, said recently. (ANI)

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