Moser Baer Photo Voltaic SEZ to operate soon

New Delhi, Nov 16: Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd (MBPV) has set up a Special Economic Zone in Noida to manufacture photo voltaic (PV) cells and panels, used to generate photo voltaic electricity, which will be operational by the year end.

MBPV is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Moser Baer India Ltd which invested about Rs 80 crore in the former in August this year to bank on the emerging solar cell technologies.

Photo voltaic cells are semiconductor devices which produce electricity as long as light shines on them. Each cell generates about half-a-volt of electricity. They can be bundled together in modules or panels to produce higher voltages and increased power.

The world PV market is treading a growth path with sales expected to grow over six times to 30 to 40 billion dollars by 2010.

''Although PV electricity costs huge for consumers at Rs 20 per unit, it can be brought down to 10 cents (about Rs 4.50) per unit by enhancing the technology. Lower cost would also mean expansion of the market,'' Moser Baer India Managing Director Deepak Puri said at the 20th National Conference on In-House R&D in Industry here today.

MBPV has plans to double the area of the 27-acre SEZ and has acquired an additional 57 acres of land, out of which 25 acres will be added to this SEZ while the rest will be utilised for the IT operations, Mr Puri told reporters.

To a question, he said that ''Moser Baer believes in doing things on its own'' and hence ''no other company has been alloted space in the SEZ.'' He, however, refused to divulge the investment that MBPV has put in the SEZ saying that ''the company does not have a policy to reveal the investments in any project.''

UNI