India poised to add almost 14 GW of solar module production - JMK Research

India is expected to add 13.75 GW of solar module and 6.9 GW of solar cell manufacturing capacity over the next 18 months, Indian consultancy JMK Research & Analytics said last week.

Currently, India has 16 GW of module production capacity and 4 GW of cell capacity, and lacks polysilicon, ingot and wafer production facilities, according to the firm.

The country has been meeting most of its solar module demand with imports, but the government, which targets 280 GW of solar generation capacity by 2030, has moved to boost domestic manufacturing.

Basic customs duty (BCD) will start being levied on imports of solar cells and modules from April 2022 and the country has also introduced a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for new manufacturing facilities that has committed INR 45 billion (USD 606m/EUR 507m) over five years to support the establishment of 10 GW of integrated photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing plants.

The consultancy said that module manufacturers with plus-1-GW capacity, including Waaree Energies Ltd, Adani Solar, Premier Energies and Vikram Solar Ltd, have proposed capacity additions of 9 GW for modules and 6.4 GW for cells. This includes Vikram Solar’s intention to build a 3-GW factory in Tamil Nadu in four-five years for solar modules, cells, as well as wafers.

So far in 2021, two key manufacturers have completed some expansions. Tata Power Solar increased its manufacturing capacity for cells to 530 MW from 300 MW and for modules to 580 MW from 400 MW. Premier Energies lifted its module manufacturing capacity to 1.25 GW from 500 MW and added 750 MW of cell capacity.

(INR 100.0 = USD 1.346/EUR 1.127)

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