Recently, India has seen an influx of new solar manufacturing agreements. Since September alone, four domestic manufacturers have announced plans to build over 16.5GW of solar capacity, including more than 11.5GW of solar cells and over 5GW of solar modules.
According to the latest report from Mercom India Research, as of June 2024, India’s total installed solar module manufacturing capacity reached 77.2GW, while solar cell capacity stood at 7.6GW, driven primarily by growing demand.
The majority of these new agreements focus on solar cell production. Although production capacity is increasing, the supply of domestic modules remains constrained due to lagging solar cell capacity.
As the world’s third-largest energy consumer, India is actively shifting toward renewable energy. By 2026, the country’s module manufacturing capacity is projected to reach 172GW, with solar cell capacity nearing 80GW.
To reduce reliance on imports, India is heavily promoting domestic manufacturing. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced that the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for solar components would take effect on April 1, 2024.
The ALMM policy, aimed at protecting domestic manufacturers, has undergone several reforms to reduce production costs and compliance burdens. In the latest ALMM list issued on January 24, 2024, the number of approved manufacturers was reduced from 82 to 78, excluding any foreign module manufacturers.
