Solar equipment makers line up Make In India initiatives |
Indian government`s `Atmanirbhar Bharat` push could be yielding early results in the solar energy space as the Renewable Energy Ministry has received proposals from a range of players for over 10GW (giga watts) of fresh solar equipment manufacturing. The proposals over the last couple of months, to domestically manufacture solar equipment in India, include those from the US-based First Solar, Gurgaon-based Renew Power, Kolkata-based Vikram Solar and the Delhi-headquartered Waaree Energies. This surge in interest in the domestic manufacture of solar equipment coincides with measures initiated by the government to slap additional duties on imports across sectors, including solar power. The government`s move to shift from the use of short-term `safeguard duties` to protect domestic manufacturers to the imposition of customs duties has induced the industry to “make long-term commitments in terms of investments”. While there`s been considerable progress in solar capacity addition since 2014, with India progressively emerging as the world`s third largest solar market, the country`s domestic solar equipment manufacturing industry has largely failed to capitalise on the opportunity. Despite a 20GW demand for solar cell manufacturing, India`s current average annual capacity is only around 3GW, with nearly 80 percent of the inputs and components imported from China.
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