India to add nearly 10GW solar in 2017 - Mercom

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Credit: Mercom Capital Group

Mercom Capital Group has forecasted India to add 9,812MW of solar PV this year, well up from its previous projection of 9,020MW in January.

This would also be a 130% increase year-over-year compared to the 4.3GW India installed last year, and the Asian country is widely expected to become the world's third largest PV market during 2017.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The consultancy's latest quarterly market said that overall deployment had reached 12.8GW by the end of Q1 this year. Meanwhile, the pipeline of utility-scale projects under development stands at roughly 12.6GW, with around 6.1GW of tenders awaiting auctions.

The pipeline is still primarily being driven by the flagship programme National Solar Mission (NSM), which has seen significant capacities tendered. State-level policies and tenders were the second main driver.

Southern states are dominating the pipeline with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana all having more than 2GW in development or ready for auction.

Mercom noted a continued slide in Chinese module prices, which have fallen around 33% over a 12-month period. The industry expects module prices to decline slightly in Q2, followed by a more prolific decline in the second half of the year once Chinese installations slow down in June. Mercom cited these cost declines as a key enabler of recent record low tariffs in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Chinese module average selling prices (ASPs) came to US$0.32/W (INR20.68) in Q1. Whereas, average Indian module prices were about 14% higher in this period.

Credit: Mercom

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Juniper Green Energy through its subsidiary Juniper Green Sigma Eight has signed a 70MW power purchase agreement with renewable energy giant Tata Power. 
October 6, 2025
Indian infrastructure company focused on rooftop and ground-based solar power installations, PVV Infra has secured solar power orders worth INR7.9 billion (US$90 million) through two of its subsidiaries. 
October 6, 2025
Indian solar developer ACME Group has established a new subsidiary to manage its renewable equipment manufacturing business, under which it is planning to scale production of TOPCon PV modules.
October 6, 2025
Rajasthan government will develop 500MW/2,000MWh of standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) with a four-hour single-cycle configuration and extended operational life.
October 2, 2025
The Indian solar industry has 86GW and 182GW of solar cell and module manufacturing capacity, respectively, expected to be commissioned by 2027.
October 2, 2025
The Indian Department of Commerce has launched an antidumping investigation on solar encapsulants originating or exported from South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK