Sarus Solar plans to set up 500MW solar farm in Maharastra, India

Sarus Solar is planning to invest approximately Rs.65bn ($1.02bn) to establish a 500MW solar PV farm in Maharashtra state of India.

The company, a joint venture between three Canadian firms such as Canadian Solar, Guycan Solar and Mackie Research, is expected to set up the new plant in Shahpur, Press Trust of India reported.

Sarus Solar India operations head Arun Agarwal was quoted by the news agency as saying:"The Canadian firm saw huge potential in the solar sector in India especially after the government announced its target of 100 GW capacity by 2020.

"We are now awaiting Maharashtra government’s approval for the project. We plan to supply the entire power generated to the state and we are working out on the possibilities of signing power purchase agreements with discoms."

He also added that the company already entered into a partnership with India-based Neelkanth Solar Energy to support its entry to Indian market.

Sarus Solar has already acquired 16 acres of land on lease for 25 years from Dhanashree Infratech for the project.

The engineering procurement construction work for the project will be carried out by Guycan Solar.

Canadian Solar will be responsible to deliver the panels and technology, while Mackie Research will fund the entire project.

Agarwal added: "We expect the project to be completed within 30 months from commissioning of the work.

"Once this project kicks of, we are planning to develop a similar 500 MW park in Jharkhand."

Earlier, the company had approached the Odisha government for a similar project. However, the firm later scrapped the plan due to issues regarding approval.