Kolkata, March 10 (IANS) Vikram Solar Private Ltd. has invested Rs.100 crore at its plant at Falta, a special economic zone (SEZ) in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, for producing solar modules of 50 MW capacity per annum, the company said Wednesday.

'Vikram Solar has invested around Rs.100 crore in this project, with an initial capacity of 25 MW per annum. We are already in the process of expanding its capacity to 50 MW by the middle of this year,' H.K. Chaudhary, chairman of Vikram Group of Industries, said in a statement.

Vikram Solar has promoted a subsidiary in the name of Vikram Solar GmbH in Germany for the latest technological up gradation.

The company it has plans for backward integration in the form of wafer and photovoltaic cell manufacturing, within a short period, with a total capital outlay of Rs.500 crore, he said.

The company has more than 100 employees now and once the full expansion is implemented, will be able to provide employment to more than 800 people directly and indirectly, the statement said.

To deliver solar power to non-grid areas, Vikram Solar has initiated a research and development project in collaboration with Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) for applied research in the field of long life Solar Battery Systems to sustain a life cycle of 15-20 years.