NR
NRI Sivasankaran, plans investment of Rs 600 crore
to set up wind mills across Tamil Nadu.

Siva lines up Rs 600 cr for wind energy

CHENNAI, India , Mar. 31, 2006
(Times of India, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)

NRI businessman Sivasankaran, who created a furore last year, when he pocketed a cool $800 million by selling his GSM business (Aircel) to Maxis of Malaysia, is now sharpening his guns on the energy sector.

Phase I of the business will see investments to the tune of Rs 600 crore being made in the wind energy sector. Siva has been cobbling up a strategy for this foray.

He has acquired land across the most fertile regions for wind energy (Tirunelveli and Nagercoil districts in South Tamil Nadu) and is picking up equity stakes in O&M contractors for maintaining the wind mills. Orders for the wind mills will be placed next month.

...C Sivasankaran told ToI from London, "As a group (Sterling Infotech), we have readied our business plan to get into renewable energy in a big way. We are planning to set up wind mills across Tamil Nadu. Our Phase I plans envisages a financial investment of Rs 600 crore. We want to have 150 MW under our belt in the first year of our operations."

Detailing his plans, he said, the group has acquired close to 1,200 acres of land across South Tamil Nadu for this purpose. "We will set up 150 wind mills each with a capacity to generate one MW. We are in talks with windmill makers and our orders will be placed latest by April," he said.

The wind energy project will be managed by Aircel Ventures and Siva Ventures. Another step towards this strategy, a Sterling Group company --Karthik Shelters Private Ltd, is acquiring 14.95 percent equity in Best & Crompton Engineering.

• NRI Sivasankaran