Airtel launches 21-MW solar power plant in Maharashtra

Bharti Airtel announced that a new 21-megawatt solar power plant in Maharashtra's Buldhana district has been commissioned as part of the company's commitment to reduce carbon emissions and contribute to global efforts to combat climate change. The solar-powered unit is expected to reduce 25,517 tonnes of Carbon dioxide per year, according to the company. The company said in a statement that the captive power plant, which spans 80 acres, was built by Airtel in collaboration with Avaada to provide clean energy to the company's Nxtra data centres and switching centres in Maharashtra. Nxtra by Airtel CEO Rajesh Tapadia told the media that for Nxtra by Airtel, sustainability is a top priority. This is another step toward achieving our goal of sourcing more than 50% of data centre power from renewable energy sources in the next 12 months, as well as contributing to Airtel's overall Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. In Uttar Pradesh, Nxtra by Airtel has already completed the construction of two 14-MW captive solar power plants. With 11 large and 120 edge data centres across the country, the company claims to have India's largest network of data centres, and it plans to invest over Rs 5,000 crore over the next four years to triple its capacity. Airtel has pledged to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 50.2% across its operations by the financial year 2031, using FY 2021 as the baseline year. In the same timeframe, Airtel has pledged to cut absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 42%. Image Source Also read: Bharti Airtel plans Rs 5,000 cr investment in data centre business