Gautam Solar on Wednesday place on stream extra module manufacturing capacity at its Haridwar facility, taking the total capacity to 250 megawatts (MW), from the current 120 MW.
The corporation stated the expansion policy “aligns very well with the government’s decision to incentivise solar production in the country”.
The announcement was produced two weeks following the Union Cabinet authorized the Rs 4,500 crore production-linked incentive scheme for solar manufacturing to lessen import dependency. “This has been made possible in the wake of the government’s decision to make India a solar manufacturing hub and reduce its dependency on other countries for importing solar equipment,” Gautam Mohanka, managing director, Gautam Solar, stated.
The domestic solar producers are enthused by the industry visibility supplied by means of different central government solar schemes with the mandatory domestic content requirement. The current central public sector undertaking scheme aims to set up 12,000 MW of solar capacity making use of domestic ingredient by government firms by FY23.
To increase domestic manufacturing, the Centre had imposed a 25% safeguard duty on solar imports from China and Malaysia in July 2018 for two years, which was extended to July 2021, at a price of 15%. From the starting of FY23, solar module imports will attract a simple customs duty of 40%.
About 50% of the country’s 14 GW solar manufacturing capacity at present remains unutilised, as developers have preferred to import more affordable gear, largely from China, to make solar plants. However, general solar imports in the very first ten months of FY21 have fallen to $393 million from $1.6 billion in the very same period a year ago as solar capacity addition fell 45% to 4.8 GW and module rates fell by about 20%.