Optical storage device maker Moser Baer India Ltd plans to raise $300 million for its solar unit, after raising $150 million through a private placement, a top official said on Thursday.
“We closed the $150 million deal on a private placement. We're now raising $300 million. That will also be a private placement,” Deepak Puri, managing director of Moser Baer told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
In May, the company's unit, Moser Baer Solar Plc, received board approval to raise $150 million.
The company also plans to list its photo voltaic unit, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd, which makes solar cells and modules used in producing electricity from sunlight.
“We're going to list. First let the markets stabilise, we will decide by the end of the year whether we're going to list on the London Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq or Dubai,” Puri said.
“We're totally compliant.”
Demand for renewable energy like solar power is increasing amid global effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions blamed for contributing to global warming and as oil prices reach record highs.
The photovoltaic unit contributed close to a tenth of Moser Baer's net sales of about 19 billion rupees in the year ending March 2008.
Moser Baer has outlined plans to spend 60 billion rupees in setting up photovoltaic plants with a capacity of 1.3 gigawatts.
In March, two sources had told Reuters that Moser Baer Photo was planning to raise $150 million by listing on the Nasdaq exchanges.
Source: Reuters