Two senior figures from Indian solar manufacturing companies have said government proposals to boost the country’s domestic PV industry through duties on imported equipment do not go far enough.
Solar projects in India with power purchase agreements signed prior to 1 August 2020 will be exempt from steeper customs duties on Chinese component imports, the country’s power minister has confirmed.
Spain’s Solarpack and Italy’s Enel are amongst the winners of Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) latest utility-scale solar tender, which has tempted record-low bids from parties involved.
Solar module imports into India face customs duties of as much as 40% by next year under plans outlined by the government, an apparent escalation of details released earlier this week.
Deal to supply PV power at tariffs of around US$38/MWh for 25 years will see firm deploy colossal fleet by 2025, together with 2GW worth of solar factories by 2022.
Projects can stay money-making for cost-savvy developers and investors but tariffs below INR 2.5/kWh (3.47 US dollar cents per kWh) are ‘unviable’, say IEEFA experts.
Investor KKR has picked up a 317MW portfolio of solar assets in India from Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital (SP Infra) in a deal valued at US$204 million.
Sungrow is backing a long-term strategy for the Indian solar market, targeting growth in the rooftop segment while lining up more deals with independent power producers in the country.