US-based solar manufacturing company First Solar is foraying into the Indian market with a 3.3 gigawatt (GW) facility in Tamil Nadu, the company said on Friday. The company will invest $648 million into the manufacturing unit which will become the third location in Asia after Malaysia and Vietnam. First Solar is one of the top three solar manufacturers in the world, and currently has a market cap of $8.9 billion. "[India] is an inherently sustainable market, underpinned by a growing economy and appetite for energy, with a well-defined goal that will need over 25 GW of solar to be deployed every year for the next nine years,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar.