As part of switching to renewable energy, Cherthala-based Autokast Ltd has begun work on a two-megawatt solar power plant. The ground-mounted solar power plant being set up on 6.5 acres of land could generate around 8,000 units (kWh) of electricity daily.
Officials said the plant would be made operational by May-June this year. “The work is progressing at a rapid pace. Solar power will help the company save a lot of money on electricity bills. Once the plant starts generating power at full scale, we will be able to save around ₹10 lakhs per month. As a result, the cost of production of iron casting will come down and will help the company’s competitiveness,” said an official.
The plant is being set up at a cost of ₹10 crore.
Alex Kannamala, chairman, Autokast said the company would scale up the production of eco-friendly bricks for the construction sector. It planned to produce at least 1,000 bricks per day and 25,000 per month in the initial phase.
The State Public Sector Undertaking is making bricks from waste foundry sand, which is rich in silica using a technology developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST). The CSIR-NIIST technology uses cement bonding and compression moulding technique to make bricks from waste sand.
Meanwhile, Autokast bagged new orders worth ₹22 crore from Northern/Southern railways, BEML and Braithwaite for the supply of 687 casnub bogies. Mr. Kannamala said that 45 bogies had already been handed over. He said that Autokast and BPCL would jointly set up a petrol station on the company premises soon.
