Tata Group, one of India’s diversified business conglomerates, has invested in Swiss firm Flisom--which produces flexible, thin-film solar cells at a low-cost technology—for an undisclosed sum.
The company is currently setting up a 5-MW pilot plant in Duebendorf, Switzerland at an estimated cost of $36 million. With this, Flisom marks its presence in the solar photovoltaic industry, where it will step up focus. The company intends to scale up the production capacity of the plant to over 100 MW per annum and will enter the mass market globally, says a release.
Kishor Chaukar, MD, Tata Industries, stated that the investment will help the start-up company enter the international market. “We see value in this technology and the resultant product not only as manufacturers or sellers but also as users of it. We plan to actively stimulate the market for renewable energy, especially solar,” said Chaukar. Tata is also looking at strengthening its association with Flisom.
Anil Sethi, CEO, Flisom, stated that the Tata group’s presence in the energy sector will further boost Flisom to tap potential market globally.
Large corporates, private equity and venture capital investors are bullish on the clean tech segment. Some of the companies, which got funded in recent times include Moser Baer (investor CDC Group, Credit Suisse, IDFC, Morgan Stanley and Nomura International); SE Forge (investor IDFC); Vestas RRB India (investor Merrill Lynch); Orient Green Power Company (investor Olympus Capital) and Cobol Technologies’ (investor Pangea Capital).
