Japanese telecoms provider-turned solar developer Softbank is planning to provide funds and expertise for a project to construct 'mega' solar PV plants in India.
Softbank is also forming a joint venture to be named SBG Cleantech, with Taiwan-based manufacturing services provider Foxconn Technology Group and Indian business conglomerate Bharti Enterprises.
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In a call to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son, alongside Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, and Tadashi Maeda, senior managing director of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, “expressed keenness” to invest in the renewable energy sector in India as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, according to a government newswire.
SBG Cleantech will invest in solar and wind projects across the country and intends to participate in the 2015-16 round of solar tenders under the National Solar Mission (NSM) program and state-specific solar programs.
Masayoshi Son is expected to have talks about the project with Indian government officials today about the 'mega' solar project, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.
Softbank has built 16 solar plants in Japan since March 2011.
As part of its National Solar Mission, India's ministry of New and renewable Energy (MNRE) plans to set up 25 mega-solar parks of around 100MW each, to help reach its 100GW solar target by 2022, which was recently officially approved by the government.
Last December PV Tech reported that Softbank could be in line to develop as much as 10GW of solar in India, beginning with the state of Andhra Pradesh, after chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, visited Japan and signed a memorandum of understanding for industrial cooperation with the head of the Japanese Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Yoichi Miyazawa.
