Solairedirect Energy India Pvt. Ltd., a unit of Paris-based Solairedirect Group; one of the leading solar engineering firms worldwide, inaugurated its first project in India, a 5.6 MW solar park under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The park is located near Phalodi, in Rajasthan, which boasts the country's highest solar irradiation. The company emerged as the best bidder in the last round of the JNNSM in December 2011 with a record-breaking 7.49 Rs/kWh quote for the project. Moreover the project was procured with photovoltaic cells, modules and inverters all made in India.

Union Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah graced the occasion and inaugurated the project along with Mr. Thierry Lepercq, Chairman, Solairedirect Group and Mr. Gaurav Sood, MD, Solairedirect Energy India Pvt. Ltd.

Indian solar installations have been driven by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) with a goal to install 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022, and various state policies and state RPOs (renewable portfolio obligations). The Solairedirect solar park paves the way for the mass-scale deployment of competitive solar power across India. The solar park was commissioned on 24th February 2013, in accordance with the schedules agreed with the Indian authorities and will generate 9000 MWh per annum, enough to power 20000 Indian households.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Thierry Lepercq, Chairman Solairedirect said, "We are all proudly Indian today. We are showing that solar power can make a serious contribution in addressing this country's pressing energy needs with equipment manufactured in India. This is a huge opportunity that Solairedirect, along with its Indian partners, intends to seize now. Its success in the JNNSM bidding establishes the company's pioneering position in the race for clean, locally generated energy affordable to all".

In addition, Mr. Gaurav Sood, Managing Director, Solairedirect Energy India Pvt. Ltd. said, "By leading the JNNSM bidding Solairedirect shows the way forward for competitive solar power generation, out of feed-in tariffs and other incentives and into the real world of energy, competing and combining with other power sources".