Moser Baer plans Rs 2000 cr plant in TN

Moser Baer, manufacturers of Compact Discs and Digital Video Discs, will be setting up a solar photovoltaic fabrication unit at Oragadam, about 40 km from Chennai, a top company official said on Monday.

The unit will manufacture solar Photo Voltaic Films, used to generate solar power.

"The plant will be set up with an initial investment of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion). It will be ready by 2009 and employ about 4,000 people," Deepak Puri, managing director, Moser Baer told reporters on the sidelines of CII's 'Connect 2007' in Chennai.

According to Tamil Nadu Industries secretary Shaktikanta Das, discussions are on for about 100 acres of land at the Special Economic Zone.

Puri also met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who inaugurated the event and briefed him about the project.

Das said this was the first project of this magnitude in India. "We got it after stiff competition from several other states. This is the beginning of a new kind of ecosystem and widens the parameters of the ecosystem that the state currently has," he said.

Puri said the company was also looking at other Southern states for setting up further facilities.

"We are expecting a revenue of $1.5 billion in revenue from the first three years of operation from the plant," he said. Moser Baer currently has a Photovoltaic facility in Noida.