India is expecting growth in domestic solar cell making capacity in the upcoming months. Nation is aiming to reduce its reliance on imported material for solar panels from China according to the country’s top renewable energy officials.
Renewable Energy Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said in an interview in New Delhi that the country’s solar cell manufacturing is set to increase fivefold to about 30GW a year by March 2025. This will allow the government to secure the import restrictions and promote the local adoption of solar power which will achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of increasing self-sufficiency in this sector.
India has already started to import taxes on some of the solar components and establish an approved list of models and manufacturers, a non-tariff trade barrier that is made to keep foreign shipments out.
US and European officials have said that a large amount of solar products from Chinese companies is more than what is needed worldwide which is making it more difficult for them to build their supply chains. In India, the production of solar panels has increased because of existing import restrictions. However many manufacturers are still dependent upon China’s materials to make solar panels.
Bhalla mentioned in the interview “We plan to give the industry around two years to prepare so that we have ample domestic capacity”, the policy should be clear and forward-thinking. India’s government had to temporarily remove the non-tariff import restrictions on modules last year because local industries said supply shortages were affecting their projects.
Analysts from BloombergNEF said that manufacturers will look for vast growth in export markets for cells and modules made in India as they want to see higher domestic demand before the investment is made.
