Module and cell manufacturers in India will expand their production capabilities by 13.75GW for modules and 6.9GW for solar cells, according to research by JMK Research and Analytics.
Module manufacturers with more than 1GW of existing capacity have proposed a cumulative addition of 9GW, while cell manufacturers are pledging an additional 6.4GW.
At present, India has a total module and solar cell manufacturing capacity of about 16GW and 4GW, respectively.
According to media reports, most of these companies expect to complete the extensions in the next year to 18-months.
Two players have already made significant additions, with Tata Power Solar adding 230MW to its cell and 180MW to its module manufacturing, while Premier Energies has expanded its module capacity to 1.25GW from 500MW, and added 750MW of cell production capacity.
The government of India will introduce a Basic Customs Duty (BCD) in April next year on solar imports, and has established a Production-linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for new manufacturing facilities to stimulate the country’s solar industry and reduce its dependence on foreign products.
Currently, around 80% of India’s local demand for solar modules is met through imports from other Asian countries such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia.
India has a target of adding 280GW of solar power installation by 2030.
