Bidadi plant Toyota’s greenest in the world
BIDADI, BENGALURU: India’s fight against pollution has a new hero in Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s top auto maker by volume. Toyota’s factory complex near India’s software hub of Bengaluru has been declared as the greenest among 56 plants run globally by the Japanese company.
At least 56 million units of energy, or 68% of the total 83 million needed every year by the India plant (situated in the small industrial town of Bidadi on the BengaluruMysuru highway), come from renewable sources such as solar and wind energy, which are either generated in-house or purchased from an external source. Toyota’s factory in northern France is at a distant second, deriving 35% of its energy needs from green sources. Remarkably, France is one of the biggest propagators of climate change worldwide and India along with China are seen as the most polluting nations.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is targeting about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
The Bidadi factory is now a “model plant” for the company’s operations worldwide, said Raju B. Ketkale, senior vice-president and director of product design and development, purchases and quality assurance at Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.
“Other manufacturers in India also employ renewable energy at similar levels (as France),” Ketkale claimed.
TKML now plans to add 7 megawatts capacity by the end of 2020, which would take the share of renewable energy to 80%, Ketkale said.