Indian solar manufacturer Premier Energies has teamed up with Mono and multicrystalline wafer producer Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS) to establish a 2GW per annum silicon wafer manufacturing facility in Naidupeta, Andhra Pradesh, India. This location was chosen due to its competitive electricity rates and well-developed infrastructure, a spokesperson for the firm told PV Tech.
The companies have formed a 74:26 joint venture, with Premier holding the majority stake, to slice polysilicon ingots into wafers for use in solar PV cells and modules, combining Premier Energies’ production capacity with SAS’s semiconductor wafer capabilities. The firm expects to begin commercial operation start by June 2026.
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Further down the line, the company expects to further expand its wafer manufacturing capacity and add a further 8GW of annual nameplate capacity by fiscal year 2028, while also looking into implementing 10GW of ingot annual nameplate capacity.
On top of forming a joint venture for the construction of a wafer plant in India, Premier Energies shared its plans to set up a 4.8GW solar PV TOPCon cell manufacturing facility in Naidupeta, Andhra Pradesh, and a 5.6GW solar PV TOPCon module manufacturing facility in the Sitarampur Industrial Area, Telangana.
“By integrating wafer manufacturing into the domestic supply chain, the JV will enable a higher degree of value chain localisation, reduce import dependence, and support the government’s vision of a self-reliant solar ecosystem. This strategic move will create a multiplier effect by strengthening upstream raw material availability, enhancing supply chain resilience, and driving employment growth in advanced manufacturing segments,” a spokesperson for Premier Energies told PV Tech.
It also aims to incorporate a new wholly owned subsidiary focused on the manufacturing of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Additionally, the company has entered into a joint venture agreement with Nuevosol Energy Private Limited to engage in the foundry and extrusion of aluminium frames for solar PV modules.
Moreover, the company recently launched a 1GW solar factory in the Maheshwaram industrial zone in Hyderabad, Telangana. Currently, Premier Energies has an annual nameplate capacity of 2GW and 5.4GW for solar cells and modules, respectively. In the near future, the company aims to increase its cell capacity by 6.4GW by June 2026, and its modules by 6GW by March 2026. By fiscal year 2028, Premier expects to have an annual nameplate capacity of 10GW for solar cells and 11.1GW for modules.
Wafer plant plans since November 2024
Back in November 2024, Chiranjeev Saluja, managing director, Premier Energies said, “It is equally important to touch upon our future growth plans and the broader outlook of the solar sector. Leveraging the opportunities for backward integration, we are planning an investment into a wafer manufacturing facility of 2 GW, which is targeted to be commissioned by FY26.”
Furthermore, Saluja added, at the time, that the company had partnered with a Taiwanese company to establish a wafer manufacturing facility in its DRHP and RHP filings. He added that once the wafer line is stabilised, the company plans to integrate further upstream into ingot production.
Regarding this, Saluja added in November 2024 that: “We don’t have any plans to get into polysilicon manufacturing. We will be sourcing our polysilicon from outside India. And as and when polysilicon is available in India under the PLI scheme, if we get polysilicon in India, we will buy it in India. But if we don’t, we would import polysilicon.”
India’s wafer manufacturing capacity remains limited as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has clarified that imported wafers would not qualify as ‘domestically produced’ under its programmes.
For the financial year 2024-2025, Premier Energies more than doubled its revenue, reaching around INR65.2 billion (US$782 million), up from INR31.4 billion the previous year. The company also saw a 167% year-on-year increase in profit after tax for the fourth quarter of 2024.
This article was updated on May 21 to add details regarding the plant’s location and its commercial operation.
