Astonfield Renewables to start three power projects in WB

Kolkata, Jan 31 (UNI) The Astonfield Group, a Geneva based MNC, will execute three clean water power projects of 16 MW in rural Bengal this year after it received the go ahead signals from the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency.

The first three projects 10 MW of biomass, 5 MW of solar PV and one MW of manure-to-power, to be executed at Gangarampur, Bankura, and Kalyani. When completed, Bankura's 5 MW solar PV installation will be the largest solar facility in India and South Asia.

The largest existing solar power plant is in Maharashtra, which currently generates 500 kilowatts of energy per day.

The Astonfield Group had first made its presence felt in Bangalore last July. The group has decided to invest USD .5 billion (Rs 6000 crores) in India over the next two years. The bulk of investments will be for projects in supporting the development of rural India through public-private partnerships.

The current projects in West Bengal will cost about Rs 60 crore for the 10 mw biomass project, Rs 100 crore for the 5 mw solar, and Rs 8 crore for the one mw of manure-to-power. Lands had already been earmarked and projects would start in two to three months time.

Astonfield Renewable Resources plans to spend over USD 0 million (Rs 2000 crore) on renewable energy projects within the next two years. The technology capabilities for renewable energy projects are solar PV, municipal solid waste-to-power, manure-to-power, biomass and biogas.

The initial three projects marked the beginning of Astonfield's business strategy to develop a portfolio of several thousand megawatts in clean energy in India over the next five to 10 years.

The group hoped that millions of Indians will benefit from the development of clean energy projects bringing electricity to areas where power has not reached so far, said Astonfield Management Director Sourabh Sen.

Astonfield was currently generating plans and proposals for a nationwide renewable energy rollout that will top 2000 megawatts.

Astonfield Renewable Resources (ARR), Astonfield Airports (AA) and Tower Communications (AC) are three subsidiaries of Astonfield Management Limited, operate in energy, aviation and telecommunications segments, respectively.

The Astonfield Group of Companies was founded around the concept of developing and providing world-class infrastructure services to growing nations with the desire to further these economies under a public-private partnership structure.

UNI PC KK RN1736