Moser Baer may lose Fab City land

Moser Baer seems to be heading for trouble in executing its plan to set up the largest photovoltaic unit in Andhra Pradesh.

The company is set to lose about 100 acres allotted to it at Fab City in Hyderabad due to non-payment of lease money.

According to sources in the government, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the nodal agency for investments in the state, has already written to the state government for cancellation of the land allotment to the company.

The government is yet to make a final announcement on the issue.
The company was formally handed over the land in November 2009 and the company was to pay about Rs 15 crore towards the lease.

However, sources said, the company has so far paid just about Rs 1.5 crore. “The company has not responded to the reminders,” the source said. Though it is the APIIC that signs an agreement and earmarks land for the companies setting up their units in the state, the state government has to approve the land allotment and also
issue an order allotting the land to the company.

In this case, after reportedly failing to elicit response from the company, the APIIC has written to the government to cancel the land allotment.

Moser Baer has been working on a plan to set up a photovoltaic facility at the Fab City on the outskirts of the city with an estimated investment of $500-700 million. The company was to set up a production capacity of about 500 mw.

The Hyderabad facility was also a part of the company’s plan to set up 1 gigawatt capacity at various parts of the country.

However, Moser Baer is not the only company that would face the government action for delays in project execution. According to official sources, there are at least a dozen companies that have not commenced works on their projects despite the land allotment.

Though the sources are not willing to disclose the names of these companies, the APIIC is currently pursuing the non-starters to either commence the projects or to vacate the land.