PSUs to establish 10GW polysilicon manufacturing capacity to cut solar dependence on China

A senior official of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) told FE that Chinese manufacturers had increased the price of wafers that go into manufacturing cells after India, which increased the production of cells under the Atmanirbhar India campaign

New Delhi (Natural Energy News): Public sector companies such as NTPC and BHEL can set up polysilicon manufacturing plants in the country to help reduce China's dependence on imports of wafers, ingots and cells for integrated manufacturing of solar modules under the Atmanibhar Bharat campaign.

A senior official of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) told FE that Chinese manufacturers had increased the price of wafers that go into manufacturing cells after India, which increased the production of cells under the Atmanbir India campaign Has This is likely to make Indian panels inefficient towards panels imported from China, reflecting their vulnerability to price changes and their dependence on China.

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“To address the issue of highness of Chinese manufacturers, the Government of India is negotiating with PSUs to establish a 10GW polysilicon manufacturing capacity in India. Polysilicon is used to make ingots and wafers and is readily available for import from countries outside of China such as South Korea, ”the official said.

According to industry standards, a gigawatt of polysilicon costs anywhere between Rs 1,250 crore and Rs 1,500 crore.

Director of Chemtrols Solar, Aneesh Rajagopal said, the country requires that some companies with deep pockets take the initiative to establish polysilicon and wafer manufacturing capacity in the country as they are highly capital-intensive. Rajagopal said, "The benefit with polysilicon is that they are readily available in the country, although high-quality silicon can be seen from abroad for companies to start with, later they are available in domestically available silicon Can shift. "

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MNRE is also working on a plan to provide financial incentives to manufacturers seeking to set up polysilicon, ingots and wafers plants. The manufacture of wafers and ingots is capital intensive in nature against manufacturing cells and modules, where the cost per unit has become self-sustainable with import tariffs and solar schemes such as Kusum, CPSU and Rooftop, as they would have required mandatory use of home cells Is and modules.

“We have to see wafer and ingot manufacturers providing interest subvention. We also need to look at self-sufficient and captive utilization schemes for wafer manufacturers, ”said the MNRE official. According to the official, their single-window project monitoring division has received tremendous response from entrepreneurs for manufacturing cells and modules under the Atmanabir Bharat Abhiyan and is also working to meet the requirements of wafer manufacturers.

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In August, Union Energy Minister RK Singh said that India should be self-sufficient in manufacturing solar equipment in the next 18 months to reduce its shortfall on Chinese imports.