Indian solar manufacturer Emmvee has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Karnataka to set up a 3GW cell and module production plant in the state.
Requiring an investment of INR 8.25 billion (US$110 million), the facility builds on Emmvee’s current 500MW module manufacturing facility in Karnataka’s Bengaluru district, which was expanded in 2017 following the addition of a new stringer tool.
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Planned for the town of Dobaspet, the new plant is expected to create 736 jobs.
Bengaluru-based Emmvee is among the 18 companies that have bid to participate in India’s production-linked incentive scheme, which aims to support the addition of 10GW of integrated solar PV manufacturing plants in the country.
Applications totalling 54.8GW were submitted, with half the bidders having no prior solar manufacturing experience, according to consultancy JMK Research & Analytics, which said only three or four companies will eventually benefit from the programme.
Approved in 2020, the PLI scheme will see INR45 billion (US$603 million) allocated over five years to back the domestic production of high-efficiency PV modules as India’s government bids to reduce the reliance on imports as it aims to reach 280GW of installed solar by 2030.
Among the companies expanding their manufacturing footprint in the country are First Solar, which is planning a 3.3GWdc module assembly plant in the state of Tamil Nadu, while Vikram Solar inaugurated a 1.3GW module plant in July.
Last month, Hyderabad-based Premier Energies said it will add an additional 2GW of manufacturing capacity for both cells and modules based on mono PERC technology after it secured INR 2 billion (US$27 million) from a private equity firm.
