India is working to achieve a big target in the renewable energy sector by 2030. The country aims to install 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, mainly solar energy.
However, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), this goal might lead India to annually import solar equipment worth about $30 billion. This could also make India more dependent on China, which supplies a large amount of solar equipment.
Currently, India is trying to build its own solar manufacturing industry. It will require a lot of investment to create a complete supply chain in areas like polysilicon and wafer production.
Without this, India will continue to depend on imports and struggle to reach its renewable energy goals. In 2023-24, India installed 15 GW of solar energy, raising the total capacity to 90.8 GW, compared to just 2.8 GW in 2014.
At this moment, China controls around 97% of the global polysilicon production, which is a key material for solar panels. This makes it hard for other countries, including India, to compete with the low prices of Chinese products. In the last year, India imported solar modules worth $7 billion, and 62.6% of these imports came from China.
While India is trying to promote local manufacturing through schemes like the Make in India and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI), most of the solar projects still depend on imported materials.
The country has also imposed customs duties on imports from China, but solar equipment from other countries like Vietnam and Malaysia is exempt from these duties due to trade agreements.
Experts suggest that India needs to boost its own production of solar cells and components, starting from raw materials like silica. This would help reduce the dependence on imports. There is also a need to focus on manufacturing other materials used in solar panels, like aluminum frames and glass.
India may also need to partner with countries like the US, Japan, and the EU to build large-scale solar factories and become more independent in solar power production.
Source:
