Tamil Nadu thinks of overall growth of India, not just the State, says Minister 

Tamil Nadu does not think only of its own growth, but the growth of the whole country, the State’s Industries Minister, Dr T R B Raaja, said today. 

Speaking at the inauguration of the Sriperumbudur solar module manufacturing plant of the US company, First Solar, Raaja said, “We are not thinking about Tamil Nadu alone when we script the growth of the State. (It is) not about Tamil Nadu alone. We are thinking about the overall growth of India.” 

First Solar is putting up a 3.5 GW, $ 684 million solar module plant at Sriperumbudur, some 40 km West of Chennai. The Minister thanked the US company over its choice of Tamil Nadu for putting up the plant and observed that the state was the most urbanised in the country. “Whichever part of the State you go to, you will see growth,” he said.

Raaja complimented First Solar for the fact that 40 per cent of First Solar’s labour force comprised women, many of them from the southern districts. The Minister further noted that First Solar had given these workers excellent accommodation, transportation to the factory and two meals for a price of ₹9. 

The factory, which is located in an area of high baseline water stress, is believed to be the world’s first net-zero water withdrawal solar manufacturing facility, says a press release of First Solar. Designed to minimise its impact on local water resources, the facility will rely entirely on tertiary treated reverse osmosis water from the city’s sewage treatment plant and have zero wastewater discharge, it says.  

Also, the factory is India’s first solar PV to have a recycling plant. The company pioneered high value solar recycling, which provides closed-loop semiconductor recovery for use in new modules, while also recovering other materials including aluminium, glass, and laminates, says the release. 

“The Series 7 module produced by the new facility is the industry’s most eco-efficient with a carbon and water footprint that is approximately four times lower than crystalline silicon solar panels produced in China. The company’s sustainable manufacturing approach uses 50 per cent less energy and only a third of the water than an equivalent polysilicon module production facility would require,” the release says. 

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