Moser’s solar plan off track?

 When Moser Baer signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in 2008 for a Rs 2,000-crore silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) modules, officials in the government thought it was a harbinger for further investments in the sector. But considerable water has flown under the bridge and there is no news on the project. While Moser Baer officials maintain the project has been deferred due to oversupply of PV modules and tight liquidity situation, there are others who feel that the optical storage device-maker would not go ahead with the TN project at all. There are other investors waiting to jump in with investment bags should the TN government decide to scrap the project. After all, the 120-acre plot in Sriperumbudur-Oragadam belt is the hottest investment destination in the country. JSW unlikely to pick up stake in JFE 
    Sajjan Jindal may have hinted at a future equity swap between JSW and Japanese steel major JFE Steel, but the final outcome of a possible deal may look a little different from what has been envisaged so far. JFE Steel's interests in the Indian market and JSW are quite understandable—given India's growth story—and a future stake buy in the Indian steel company by JFE looks quite plausible. However, industry observers rule out JSW picking up a stake in JFE. Considering that JFE's market capitalisation is seven to eight times that of JSW, Jindal may have to fork out close to Rs 900 crore to pick up a 1% stake in JFE. Even if JSW were to pick up a symbolic 0.1% stake in JFE, it would end up shelling out close to Rs 90 crore. As a source pointed out, given the ambitious growth plans chalked out by Jindal, he might instead want to leverage the amount to add to his capacity expansions. Moreover, what would Jindal gain by picking up a stake in JFE? The bigger possibility is that the JSW-JFE collaboration may only lead up a road of a one-way equity deal. 
    Contributed by Rajesh Chandramouli 
    and Namrata Singh