Govt Receives Requests From Firms For Setting Up 20 GW Of Solar Module And Cell Manufacturing Capacity

In a major boost for the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India push, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has received requests from companies to set up 20 gigawatts (GW) of domestic solar modules and cells manufacturing capacity, reports Hindu Businessline.

The development was shared by Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy R K Singh while addressing the Indian PV Edge 2020 virtual symposium. Singh said that that the government has received the expression of intent for setting up 20 GW of module and cell manufacturing and attributed this to several steps taken by the government.

The steps taken by the government to support the domestic solar manufacturing industry include the imposition of a customs duty and safeguard duty and the decision to have an Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) to prevent dumping.

Singh also said that the ALMM is expected to be approved and finalised for new tenders this month itself.

It should be noted that as of now, India has 16 GW of annual solar module manufacturing capacity of which only about 9.5-10 GW of capacity is operational. Meanwhile, the total capacity for manufacturing solar cells stands at 2.5 GW per year.