India mandates use of locally made solar cells in government projects from June 2026 (updated)

Solex Energy

10/12/2024 14:56

(Adds context of government projects in headline and paragraph
1, analyst comment in paragraph 9)
    By Sethuraman N R
       Dec 10 (Reuters) - 
    Indian clean energy firms will only be allowed to use
locally made solar cells supplied by an approved list of
companies in government projects from June 2026, the country's
renewable energy ministry said, in a move aimed at curbing
Chinese imports.
  
        India already requires the use of locally made
photovoltaic (PV) modules in government projects from an
approved list of domestic manufacturers, and authorities have
now extended this rule to solar cells as well.
  
    The government plans to increase its non-fossil fuel
capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from about 156 at
present. 
    Currently, India has a solar PV module-making capacity of
about 80 gigawatts, while its cell-making capacity is slightly
more than 7 GW, with companies largely relying on Chinese cells
to make modules.
    The government will issue a list of approved cell
manufacturers as the installed capacity of solar PV cells in the
country is expected to increase substantially next year, the
ministry said on Monday.
    Several Indian companies have already set up or are in the
process of establishing solar cell-making plants.
    Tata Power  TTPW.NS  recently commissioned a 4.3 GW cell
making plant in southern India. Reliance Industries  RELI.NS 
aims to commission its first phase of a 20 GW integrated solar
cell and module production facility before the end of this year
in the state of Gujarat, where the Adani Group already has a 4
GW cell and module-making plant. 
    Companies such as Waaree Energies  WAAN.NS , Vikram Solar
 VIKO.NS  and Solex Energy  SOEX.NS  have also lined up cell
manufacturing pipelines. 
         "There is a possibility that the prices of modules
using domestically made cells will be higher than the imported
cells and that's where scaling up the cell capacity and
improvement in cost economics for cell manufacturing in India
will be important," said Vikram V, vice president of corporate
ratings, ICRA. 
  

 (Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters
Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))