Tata Group Companies Inaugurate India’s Largest Solar Carport in Pune

In line with Tata Group’s philosophy to promote green manufacturing, Tata Motors and Tata Power jointly inaugurated India’s largest grid-synchronized, behind-the-meter solar carport at the Tata Motors car plant in Chikhali, Pune.

The 6.2 MWp solar carport deployed by Tata Power will generate 86.4 lakh kWh of electricity per year and is estimated to reduce 7,000 tons of carbon emissions annually and 1.6 lakh tons over its lifecycle.

Spanning over 30,000 square meters, this carport will not only generate green power, but will also provide covered parking for finished cars in the plant.

Envisioned as part of its net zero carbon goal for 2039, Tata Motors had entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Tata Power in August last year.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, both companies successfully managed to develop this massive carport infrastructure in a record time of 9.5 months.

Speaking on the occasion, Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said “at Tata Motors, we have consciously anchored sustainability in every aspect of our business by striving for more meaningful ways to reduce our impact on the planet, whilst providing exciting products and sustainable solutions to our customers. We have always been conscious of the need to conserve energy and are committed towards achieving 100% renewable energy source for all our operations. Our partnership with Tata Power to deploy India’s largest solar carport at our car plant in Pune is a step in that direction.”

“As One Tata initiative, we are proud to partner with Tata Motors and inaugurate India’s largest solar carport. Our partnership is a testament to our collective efforts to lower the carbon footprint and provide innovative and future-focused green energy solutions. We will continue to explore new ways to harness clean resources and offer them to our partners and customers,” said Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power.

In FY20, Tata Motors generated 88.71 million kWh of renewable electricity which is over 21 per cent of its total power consumption (up from 16 per cent in FY19). This helped prevent the equivalent of 72,739 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The company further intends to source renewable energy more rigorously to meet its aspiration of sourcing 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.