Modi’s ‘Prayas’ To Boost Solar Manufacturing Could Get A 21,000 Cr State Aid Impetus

The government is planning a Rs 21,000 crore package of state aid for India’s solar panel manufacturing industry. Prayas, or Pradhan Mantri Yojana for Augmenting Solar Manufacturing, is a central government plan designed to raise India’s installed photo-voltaic capacity as well as to create an export industry for it.

This is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign and its aim is to build 5 GW of photo-voltaic manufacturing capacity from 2019 and 20 GW of projects in the country by 2026. This is as per the statements of government officials who spoke to Mint; the officials requested not to be identified because the policy isn’t public yet.

The policy, being developed by the ministry in charge of renewable energy and industrial policy, along with the NITI Aayog government research group, will be presented to the finance ministry within a month before going to the cabinet for final approval.

Prime Minister Modi wants to increase renewable capacity to 175 GW by 2022 from the current 45 GW. About Rs 90 lakh a megawatt for manufacturing tenders along with Rs 50 lakh a megawatt for local deployment could be offered by the government.