While the deal struck in China is still hot, Ballard Power Systems Inc. BLDP announced yet another deal with a telecom operator in neighboring India.

Fuel cell maker, Ballard Power received an order from an Indian conglomerate, Aditya Birla Group. The contract calls for the shipment of 50 of the company’s ElectraGenTM-H2 direct hydrogen modules. These modules will be deployed in the country’s Idea Cellular network. Ballard Power expects to deliver these modules to Aditya Birla Group by the end of this year. The order represents the initial stride of a planned deployment of 200 systems by the end of 2016.

An Aditya Birla Group initiative, Idea Cellular is one of India's largest telecom and wireless service providers. The network service provider has 165 million subscribers including 37 million data users and is ranked as the third largest mobile operator in the country.

An innovator in many industrial sectors, Aditya Birla Group owns a number of chemical processing facilities across the nation, which give off hydrogen as a by-product. In order to capitalize on this low cost by-product, the company plans to exploit it as a fuelling source for the newly ordered ElectraGenTM-H2 modules. Idea Cellular has been conducting extensive trials and testing of Ballard Power’s ElectraGenTM modules over the last two years.

In Apr 2015, Ballard Power had nabbed another order from India for backup power systems and fuel cell modules. The order was placed by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited for 100 ElectraGen-ME fuel cell backup power systems. The systems were ordered for deployment in the company’s wireless telecom network in the country.

India is emerging as a lucrative market for fuel cell makers due to a mandate by the Department of Telecommunications that requires telecom companies to reduce their reliance on diesel generators by powering at least 50% of rural towers and 20% of urban towers with clean energy systems.

Zacks Rank

Ballard Power currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Electric – Miscellanies Components industry include Mobileye N.V. MBLY and TDK Corporation TTDKY, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and Nidec Corporation NJ, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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