Suzlon to Invest ₹550 Cr in Wind Turbine Blade Manufacturing Plants

Suzlon Group, a major Renewable Energy (RE) company, will be investing Rs. 550 crore for the development of three wind turbine blade manufacturing plants across India. This information was made available by the group’s Co-founder and Vice Chairman, Mr. Girish Tanti, during an interaction with Press Trust of India (PTI).

Plants to be Developed Across Three States

The company will set up turbine blade manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka. These plants will be located near wind project sites to improve logistics. As per Mr. Tanti, out of the total investment, ₹200 crore will be allocated to the plant in Tamil Nadu, which will be developed on a 40-acre site along the Tuticorin-Melakarandai National Highway.

The remaining ₹350 crore will be used to develop plants in Gujarat and Karnataka. However, the financial breakdown and land size for Gujarat and Karnataka plants have not been disclosed by the company.

Suzlon’s upcoming manufacturing plants will produce rotor blades, over 80 meters in length, for Suzlon’s 3 MW, 4 MW and recently launched 5 MW wind turbine series. The Tamil Nadu plant will have an annual manufacturing capacity of about 1 GW. The capacity for Gujarat and Karnataka plants has not been disclosed by the company.

Development of these plants will be funded through Suzlon’s internal accruals. Further, the company expects to complete the construction of these plants by 2027.

Collectively, these plants are expected to generate around 3,000 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs. According to Mr. Tanti, around 80% of the total 15,000 jobs are expected to go to people living in rural areas.

AI Technologies for Suzlon’s Blade Manufacturing

The plants will use Artificial Intelligence (AI), smart sensors and automation for designing, manufacturing and inspecting the wind turbine blades. Highlighting the importance of these technologies, Mr. Tanti mentioned that this will help improve product quality by detecting defects during the manufacturing process.

Mr. Tanti has named two digital management systems that handle data tracking and workplace monitoring at Suzlon’s upcoming plants; these are AskCQMS* and SAFER App**. Both these systems are developed internally by Suzlon Energy Limited.

*AskCQMS, Ask Component Quality Management System, is a digital quality management platform to ensure transparency, product quality, and component tracking across manufacturing units.

**SAFER App, a workplace safety compliance tool, functions as a digital safety monitoring system to eliminate physical risk and track compliance protocols.

Suzlon’s Growing Manufacturing Footprint in India

These new manufacturing plants will increase Suzlon’s wind turbine blade plant count to 8 factories. The company already has five blade factories in India, in Jaisalmer, Bhuj, Ratlam, Dhule and Anantapur.

Excluding blade factories, Suzlon also operates several other manufacturing units in the country. The company has a Nacelles & Hubs manufacturing plant in Puducherry, a Tubular Steel Towers plant in Gandhidham, Gujarat, and a transformers manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat.

About Suzlon Group: Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Pune, Suzlon provides various services, including designing, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of wind turbines. The Group has a cumulative wind installation of over 22 GW around the globe, of which over 16 GW is in India alone.