India's Solar Manufacturing Industry Expands With 11.3 GW Module Capacity

India's solar manufacturing industry experienced significant growth in the first six months of 2024, as per the recent report from Mercom India Research. The report ‘State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 1H 2024’ shows that India increased its solar module capacity by 11.3 GW and solar cell capacity by 2 GW in this timeframe.

The increase in production capabilities is linked to high demand, with estimated solar project pipelines of 132.7 GW for the years 2024 to 2026. The growth was also influenced by the reintroduction of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order in April 2024.

By June 2024, India had a total solar module manufacturing capacity of 77.2 GW and a solar cell manufacturing capacity of 7.6 GW. The report highlights that around 51 GW of module capacity from different technologies and wattages were certified with ALMM by June 2024.

The sector was mainly controlled by the top 10 manufacturers, who had almost 58 percent of module production capacity and all cell production capacity. In the future, the forecast predicts that India will have a total capacity of 172 GW for manufacturing solar modules by 2026, with cell capacity predicted to nearly reach 80 GW.

Even with these positive advancements, obstacles still exist. Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, pointed out that the availability of modules made in the country is limited because cell production capacity is not meeting demand. This mismatch may result in delays for projects and continued high module prices until supply and demand balance out.