Sael Plans to Set Up Solar Cell Plant in UP With ₹5,000 Cr

SAEL, which plans to expand into wafers and ingots, has appointed merchant bankers for its proposed IPO in 12 months

- Swarnali Mukherjee & Rituraj Baruah

Norfund-backed clean energy firm SAEL Ltd plans to establish a solar cell manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh at a projected investment of ₹5,000 crore. The Delhi-headquartered IPO-bound company is looking to set up an integrated solar cell and module manufacturing facility with a capacity to produce 5 gigawatt (GW) of solar cells annually, chief executive Laxit Awla told Mint in an interview. "We will begin implementing the cell manufacturing project in the next few months. It (solar cell manufacturing capacity) will be 5 GW approximately. We have module manufacturing unit in Rajasthan. This will be in UP, Greater Noida. Approximate investment will be around ₹5,000 crore," Awla said.