Suzlon to set up 3 AI-powered wind blade factories
Three new plants to create 3,000 direct jobs with 80% of rural employment
"Suzlon is building a new generation of smart factories that combine automation, advanced analytics, AIdriven decision systems, and digitally unified operations to deliver faster, leaner, and more reliable manufacturing,"
Puducherry: Suzlon Group is planning to se up three AI-powered blade factories to fast-track execution of its orderbook and meet the rising demand of the domestic wind industry, company's Co-Founder Girish Tanti said.
While two blade facilities will be set up in Gujrat and Karnataka, the location for the third one is still being explored, Tanti on the sidelines of an event to mark 30 years of the company.
Suzlon already has 5 blade factories in Jaisalmer, Bhuj, Ratlam, Dhule and Anantapur. With the addition of the three units, Suzlon will have India's largest smart wind manufacturing capacity with a total of 18 factories.
When asked about investments on these new factories, Tanti said Suzlon maintains a capex of Rs 500-550 crore annually so it will be part of that only. It will be funded from the company's internal accruals.
He said these factories will be closer to wind project sites to improve logistics. However, a plan is being worked out for cost, exact locations and estimated time period which will be required for setting up these facilities.
Sharing details, he said these will be smart factories with AI-enabled solutions to boost productivity, quality and safety. The move has been taken to accelerate orderbook execution and meet growing demand for indigenised wind equipment, Tanti said adding the government is also promoting use of efficient Made in India equipment.
The new plants will create 3,000 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs with 80 per cent rural employment. Suzlon has the highest-ever orderbook of over 6 GW of wind energy projects from multiple clean energy players.
In FY24, Suzlon expanded its manufacturing capacity by 50 per cent from 3 GW to 4.5 GW and added 1 GW in factories in Ratlam and Jaisalmer. The company has already deployed automation in blade manufacturing at these locations and is now scaling an integrated digital architecture across nacelle production with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), ERP, MES, IoT convergence, and robotics for critical tasks.
Tanti explained AI-enabled vision systems are strengthening product quality through instant defect detection, while digital quality platforms like AskCQMS and the SAFER safety app are elevating workplace assurance and traceability. "Suzlon is building a new generation of smart factories that combine automation, advanced analytics, AIdriven decision systems, and digitally unified operations to deliver faster, leaner, and more reliable manufacturing," he said.
