Adani in talks with Softbank, Foxconn on $3 billion solar plan - sources

By Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Adani Group is in talks with Japan's Softbank and Foxconn, maker of Apple's iPhone, to secure investment in a $3 billion project to make solar cells and panels in the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government expects clean energy to yield business worth $160 billion in India in the next five years, based on the country's power generation targets.

Softbank, Foxconn and Bharti Enterprises have already pledged to invest about $20 billion in solar projects in India. A new deal with Adani, one of the country's largest conglomerates, would boost Modi's efforts to promote manufacturing in India.

One of the sources, who is involved in the negotiations, said that over the past few weeks, the billionaire founder of the mines-to-power Adani Group, Gautam Adani, had held talks with Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son and Foxconn head Terry Gou.

"(Adani) are talking to Softbank, they are talking to Foxconn. They may partner with both of them. Something will be finalised in the coming few months," the source said.

Both sources said the deal was yet to be finalised. Under the current discussions, Softbank and Foxconn, which have a string of planned and executed in investments in India, could directly inject money into the project.

Foxconn Technology Group, Softbank and Adani all declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes, Swetha Gopinath and Jatindra Dash; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and David Evans)