Japanese electronics and instrumentation major Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation has announced its entry into the Indian solar market, in collaboration with Mumbai-headquartered CleanMax Solar India. The two companies will “jointly offer high-end rooftop solar solutions to Japanese companies across India.”

CleanMax Solar’s Managing Director, Kuldeep Jain, told BusinessLine today that the MoU is “the first step towards a long term partnership structure”.

At this point in time, the two companies are operating on a “pre-agreed profit sharing model,” Jain said.

The role of Hitachi High-Tech in the partnership will include approaching Japanese clients and supplying solar PV panels. The possibility of low-cost Japanese financing has also been hinted at.

CleanMax Solar specialises in setting up rooftop solar plants. It has set up over 200 plants, totalling over 80 MW. The company, founded in 2011, also works on ‘opex model’, where it sets up the plant at its own cost on the customers’ roofs and sells only the energy. Its customers include marquee names such as Tata Communications, HCL, Nestle, Hines, SKF, Tata Coffee, Tata Motors, GE, HCL, Pune University, Manipal Univesity, Mahindra World City, Konecrames and Bangalore International Airport Ltd.

With this experience, CleanMax brings to the table its expertise in developing, building and maintaining solar projects in India, said Jain, an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus and a former McKinsey executive.

The $5.6-billion Hitachi High-Tech has issued a statement in Japan, which quotes the company’s General Manager, Electronic Components & Materials Department, Ichiro Matsuba, as saying that the partnership will add “significant value to Japanese companies in India”, arising out of its deep understanding of their requirements of high quality solar power plants. The partnership also envisions possible expansions to other international markets in the future, the statement says.

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