Japan’s Softbank Corp is to work alongside Bharti Enterprises Pvt and Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) in a US$20 billion solar power venture in India, as the nation seeks to expand clean energy about fivefold by 2022.
The project aims to add 20 gigawatts of solar generation capacity, Softbank billionaire founder Masayoshi Son said at a briefing in New Delhi yesterday.
He spoke alongside Bharti’s Sunil Mittal, who said Softbank would control the venture, with Bharti and Foxconn having minority stakes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal is to boost the nation’s solar capacity to 100 gigawatts (GW), from 4.1GW, to curb blackouts and pollution.
CLEAN ENERGY
Finding the US$94 billion needed to pay for a clean-energy overhaul to reduce India’s reliance on dirty, coal-fired plants is a challenge.
Son’s venture, if successful, could account for one-fifth of Modi’s objective.
Son said Softbank could bring its experience in Japan’s solar industry to India, adding that the company has invested US$1 billion in Asia’s third-largest economy in the past nine months.
Modi’s solar ambition encompasses both rooftop projects and utility-scale plants.
Adani Enterprises Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd and SunEdison Inc are among those pledging investment.
Trina Solar Ltd last week said that it is planning a US$500 million solar plant with India’s Welspun Energy Ltd.
Telecommunications company Softbank set up a unit in 2011, SB Energy Corp, to develop clean energy projects following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in Japan the same year.
Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd is India’s biggest wireless provider. Softbank has stakes in more than 1,000 companies, including an Indian chat application venture with Bharti.
The largest member of Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) Taiwanese group Foxconn is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), maker of Apple Inc iPhones.
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