Exide Industries, an Indian lead-acid storage battery manufacturer, will invest up to 30 percent of its total equity share capital in three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to set up captive solar power projects for its manufacturing facilities.

These SPVs are: CSE Solar Sunpark Haryana Private Limited, CSE Solar Sunpark Maharashtra Private Limited, and Greenyana Solar Private Limited.

The cost of developing the captive solar power projects is approximately ₹200.5 million (~$ 2.86 million), with the company as the captive user and the three SPVs as the power producer.

The document filed by the company with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) India stated that this arrangement is expected to reduce its overall cost of production.

Many companies, both public and private, have begun investing in captive solar power projects to meet their energy demands.

Recently, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL), a government of India enterprise, had invited a tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a 5 MW captive solar power project in Mangalore, Karnataka.

In November 2018, Prism Johnson Limited (formerly Prism Cement) agreed to acquire up to 30 percent equity stake in a special purpose vehicle which will be incorporated with CSE Development (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Cleantech) for setting up captive solar power projects. The 30 percent equity was said to have an approximate value of ₹100 million (~$ 1.39 million).

In May 2018, the Ministry of Power amended the guidelines relating to captive generation projects in India. Under the draft amendment, for a project to be considered captive, minimum 26 percent of the project ownership should be from the captive user, and at least 51 percent of the power generated must be utilized for captive use.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer