XL Telecom to enter power generation field

NEW DELHI, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- India's private XL Telecom says it plans to enter the power-generation segment in Spain and Portugal.

The company's subsidiary, Saptashva Solar Ltd., will set up solar farms with a target of 28 megawatts capacity for the first year. The medium-term target for the company is to install about 200 MW in the two countries, a company spokesman said.

"XL Telecom, a solar photovoltaic panel manufacturer, also started producing solar cells and batteries. The company is now proposing to integrate its expertise by taking up power generation. Opportunities in other countries are also being explored with a view to making use of the benefits offered to go up the solar value chain. The first year's solar farms would have debt equity ratio of 1:4 and local banks in those countries would fund the projects," said Dinesh Kumar, managing director of the company.

Spain was targeting 1,200 MW from solar farms every year and was liberally providing the opportunity by supporting investments in this segment with long-term leased land and subsidized interest rates on bank loans, he said.