Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 06 2023

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

India to increase solar production

capacity to 95 GW by 2025

Ambitious goals heavily reliant on nation’s PLI schemes

INDIA A report issued at the end of January continues have already walked away from projects in the
to make waves in Indian renewables circles as country.
many question how the country is expected to Production linked incentive (PLI) schemes
meet a predicted solar production capacity of 95 are said to be behind the massive increase in
GW by 2025. potential in such a short time, according to
At the end of September 2022, figures the report; polysilicon, ingots and wafers in
released in India showed an overall produc- significant amounts having been predicted
tion capacity of just 4.7 GW, although the to lead the way in generating overall cell and
nation’s Ministry of New and Renewable module volume in the months and years
Energy (MNRE) said the total installed solar ahead.
power capacity had risen to just over 63.3 GW Much of the increase will be based at spe-
by December 31. cially built facilities in the state of Gujarat, in
In the report issued by Mercom India, a the north-west of the country.
subsidiary of the US based consultancy, Mer- With Gujurat being the home state of Indian
com Capital Group, the nation’s solar cell pro- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Mercom
duction capacity is first forecast to increase report says that Reliance Industries Limited
seven-fold to 32 GW by the end of 2024. (RIL) and the Adani Group have both already
A further increase of 63 GW in manufactur- built gigafactories in the region.
ing capacity in the following 12 months is then “With an estimated 220 GW of solar capac-
predicted, allowing the nation to attain 95 GW ity required by the end of the decade, India
of manufacturing output by 2025, according to needs significant manufacturing capacity [to]
Mercom. ramp up,” Mercom India’s managing director
Solar capacity installations have fallen Priyadarshini Sanjay said on record, before
across the subcontinent in recent months as adding: “(M)anufacturers planning expansion
India comes to terms with working towards are considering the lucrative export market
reducing imported Chinese made modules, along with the domestic demand. However,
before having the domestic production capac- developers and installers need short-term and
ity in place to take up the slack. long-term visibility to develop a viable sourc-
As a result, a number of foreign investors ing strategy.” ™

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