Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Wednesday said it is adopting a 58 MWp captive solar plant that is expected to generate about 100 million units of power annually beginning 2022. The project will quadruple M&M’s renewable power share from 12 per cent to 56 per cent across its facilities in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Igatpuri and Nagpur, the company said in a statement.
The solar plant, located at Parbhani district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, will be built, owned, and operated for a period of 25 years by ReNew Sunlight Energy Pvt Ltd, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of ReNew Power Pvt Ltd, it added. M&M CEO Automotive Division Veejay Nakra said, “This new captive solar plant will further our sustainability journey and make a significant contribution in protecting the environment and contributing to the government of India’s solar power target of achieving 175 GW by 2022.”
Stating that sustainability is a way of life and a key measure of M&M’s success, he said, “We are committed to achieving our target of carbon neutrality by 2040 and are well on the way to reduce carbon emissions across our manufacturing operations.” With this project, M&M said it is “set to make significant progress towards the achievement of carbon neutrality and Science Based Targets by mitigating 79,000 tons of carbon emissions per year”.
“This is equivalent to nurturing 3.7 million trees every year or the provision of a year’s supply of power to about 20,650 Indian households,” the company added. M&M had started using renewable energy with its first project of 0.06 MW at Igatpuri plant to mitigate carbon emissions across its manufacturing locations.
“Now with this captive solar plant, we will reach a capacity of 78 MWp,” the company said.
