Azure Power has commissioned its 35MW plant in village Kathauti, Nagaur, Rajasthan with effect from 12th February 2013, weeks before the deadline. The plant is an expansion of Azure Power's existing 5 MW Nagaur PV plant to 40MW, making it the largest solar power plant to be commissioned at a single location under the National Solar Mission.

The project demonstrates Azure Power's cost leadership and continuous push towards grid parity for solar power in line with the objectives of the National Solar Mission. Azure Power has outperformed the market and brought down cost of energy by 54.15% during the period 2009 till 2012. Azure Power is on its way to achieve grid parity for solar power.

This project was awarded under Phase I Batch II allocation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and now supplies power to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. Azure Power, in line with its record of timely completion of projects, has commissioned the project much before its scheduled date. The project was also the first project to tie up financing under the JNNSM Phase I Batch II.

Talking about the project, Mr. Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO, Azure Power said "Azure Power has continuously demonstrated its commitment to inclusive growth through clean energy generation for grid connected, rooftop and off-grid initiatives across India. We are inline with the government of India's ambition of adding 20GW of solar power by 2022. Our vision of providing affordable solar power for generations drives us to carry out extensive research and development in order to bring down the cost of energy for the end consumer. With the commissioning of this plant, Azure Power now has one of the largest portfolio of operating solar projects and a strong pipeline."

The project has received non-recourse funding from US Exim Bank and speaking on the project's successful commissioning, Fred P. Hochberg, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, said - "We are delighted to have supported Azure Power's purchases of high-quality U.S. technology for this landmark project. Ex-Im Bank is proud to finance cutting edge American-made solar equipment to help meet India's clean energy demand under the charter of the National Solar Mission."

The plant is using thin film photovoltaic modules from the world's largest manufacturer of thin-film solar modules.

James Brown, Executive Vice President of Global Business Development for First Solar, said - "India has ambitious solar power development goals, and we are very excited to contribute its growth and success. Azure Power is a strong partner and we are proud to deliver a product that is well engineered to deliver highly predictable results in the Indian market, where solar energy is becoming very competitive with the alternative liquid fuels and can be rapidly deployed to support India's economic growth."

The plant spread over 303 acres of wasteland will have a positive impact on the social and economic development of the local community. It will ensure sustainable development of the economy through income generation and local employment generation for construction, installation, security and maintenance. The plant will be instrumental in offsetting about 66,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year and hence would help contribute to climate change mitigation.