No better time to go for Atmanirbhar Bharat in RE manufacturing than right now: Industry leaders at RE-Invest 2020

• Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlong Energy Ltd, said India has immense opportunity to leverage the technology game, rather than just volume

• Ramesh Nair, CEO of Adani Solar said, 'the quest for cheap power at all times at the cost of not developing our own supply chain is beginning to tell on the system at this point of time'

New Delhi: There is no better time to go for Atmanirbhar Bharat in the solar manufacturing sector than right now when India is adding renewable capacity at such rapid great pace, said renewable energy (RE) industry leaders at the third edition of RE-Invest 2020 on Friday. The industry urged the government to create the right ecosystem for RE manufacturing to grow within the country, provide interest subvention for a few years, check dumping, and expressed confidence that the solar and the RE equipment manufacturing in India will come of age within a few years.

Focus areas for boosting domestic solar manufacturing

Addressing the virtual event, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy Ltd, said, "There are two important components that India needs to focus on in order to build a competitive base for solar manufacturing. The first is the financial cost. With interest subvention for a few years, the manufacturing industry in the RE space will be able to take manufacturing to scale and volume. And the second component is power cost. If MSMEs are able to hedge their power cost through bidding and buying, they can undertake manufacturing at low cost."

While commenting on China's competency, Tanti stated that the country is not a creator or an inventor. Explaining how China has gained competency, the industry leader said, "They open their home market and give a large volume for the domestic market first. They foster companies and develop the supply chain aggressively. And then they pick four to five companies and create an ecosystem to turn them into global players." 

"I think India has immense opportunity to leverage the technology game, rather than just volume. At the same time, the domestic market is very strong. And all these factors can contribute towards making India a global manufacturing hub in the RE space," said Tanti. 

'The cost of not developing our own supply chain is beginning to tell on system'

Explaining why manufacturing in the RE sector has not taken off, unlike the other sectors, Ramesh Nair, CEO of Adani Solar said, "One on account of the fact that technology moves very fast, especially in solar. And secondly, there has been dumping of material that is quite cheap from China."

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"And the quest for cheap power at all times at the cost of not developing our own supply chain is beginning to tell on the system at this point of time," he added. He, however, also said that interest subvention for a few years and a Basic Custom Duty (BCD) for the next 10 years will create a steady ecosystem for manufacturing to foster. 

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