Rise in solar cells production to bring Rs 30K-cr inv

The increase in manufacturing facility for solar cells and modules will bring in an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore and create 25,000 jobs in the country. "It is expected that the manufacturing capacity for cells and modules will increase roughly by 2,500 MW and 5,000 MW per annum, respectively. This is expected to create 25,000 jobs in manufacturing sector and bring in investment of about Rs 30,000 crore," said an official in the New and Renewable Energy Ministry.

At present, manufacturing capacity of cells and modules in India is 1,386 MW and 2,756 MW, respectively. Besides modules, solar power plants require inverters, cables, support structures, transformers and switch gears. The official said that the target announced by India has generated a lot of interest amongst the manufacturers and several large companies from various countries like the US, China, Japan, Germany, Canada etc. and they have shown interest in setting up manufacturing facilities in the country. Besides, the Indian manufacturers are expanding their manufacturing capacity, he added. India has announced an ambitious target of 100 GW of grid connected solar power project by 2022.

It will help to provide clean power to the country and boost manufacturing in a big way. The official said that some capacity, which was non-operational due to lack of orders, will also be revived. India is not imposing restrictions on import of solar equipments in order to keep price of solar power low and keep competition alive.

"It is important to keep the price of power low because the burden on high tariff is not sustainable in the long run and consumers should not be burdened with expensive power. With scale, the domestic manufacturing is also expected to be competitive," the official said. While India is looking at manufacturing capacities to feed the domestic demand, the country also looks forward to the export market.

Some Indian companies are already exporting cells and modules, though with high competition in the market, it is difficult for them to sell at full capacities. However, it is expected that the market will continue to expand all over the world and Indian products will have a good market. In order to encourage domestic manufacturing, a provision of domestic content requirements has been introduced in procurement of solar power under government scheme for grid connected solar power.