Indian Government agree to put £450m into solar over the next five years

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When it comes to the global solar investment race, we’re used to seeing China, the USA and a few others at the top of the list, but it was exciting to see India make a huge commitment to solar in recent days.

The government of India has announced a funding package that includes over £450m - or 45 BILLION Indian rupees! - of investment over the next five years. This funding will be put into the production of solar panels and solar storage as part of developing high-efficiency PV projects across the country.


This solar investment is part of a move by India’s cabinet to help boost domestic manufacturers, become globally competitive in a number of new industries, create economies of scale and increase exports.  The government said their solar investment “will incentivise domestic and global players to build large-scale solar PV capacity in India and help India leapfrog in capturing the global value chains for solar PV manufacturing”.

A further 181 billion rupees, around £1.8bn has been allocated to support the manufacture of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries over the next five years, in the hopes of both domestic and international trade boosts in India.


The proposals represent the latest attempt by India to stimulate its domestic solar manufacturing sector as it looks to reach ambitious PV deployment targets. This year, the government has extended safeguard duties against China on the import of solar cells and modules by an additional year and is contemplating a basic customs duty as high as 40% on certain components.

Hitesh Doshi, who is the chairman of trade body All India Solar Industries Association, shared: “domestic companies need additional protection due to the significant manufacturing cost difference between China and India. We need implementation of a basic customs duty of at least 50% on solar equipment to safeguard the future of local manufacturers.”


Reports in Indian media suggest the government is also looking to form solar equipment production zones near the country’s major ports as well as establish polysilicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facilities sufficient enough to support 10GW of module manufacturing capacity. A study published this week from JMK Research & Analytics predicts PV deployment in India is likely to “pick up substantially” in the first half of next year as the country looks to reach 100GW of installed solar by 2022.

We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on whether other countries follow India’s lead with major solar investments leading into 2021 and beyond. Hopefully there’s many more to come!


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