Should India make solar modules in India?

India’s solar market is now one of the largest solar markets in the world. With a target of 100 GW (and possibly higher), India needs to add nearly 15 GW of solar power annually to meet the 100 GW target by 2022.

Going by the recent flurry of announcements, this should be possible. Already the country’s top thermal power producer NTPC’s power trading arm NVVN has allocated 2,350 MW out of 3,000 MW in the first Tranche under Phase II Batch II of the National Solar Mission.

Meanwhile, MNRE’s SECI is also allocating solar projects in parallel under Phase II Batch III. A total of 1,190 MW has been allocated. This implies that a total of just over 3.5 GW is already in India’s pipeline, not counting several other state driven solar policies. Read more…