Industry welcomes solar manufacturing PLI fund hike, says will help cut imports

• The additional fund allocation announced by the Finance Minister will be a big boost for the sustainable development of the country through green energy, said the IREDA CMD
• This will go a long way in ensuring that India becomes self-sufficient in providing green energy at highly competitive rates in the long run, said Amp Energy India's SK Gupta

New Delhi: One of the biggest announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the renewable energy (RE) sector in the Budget 2022-23 pertaining to the increase in the outlay of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the manufacture of high-efficiency solar modules has been welcomed by the industry whole-heartedly, including state-run IREDA, which is the implementing agencies for the government's PLI scheme. 

In her Budget speech on Tuesday, the Finance Minister said, "In order to facilitate domestic manufacturing for the ambitious goal of 280 GW of installed solar capacity by 2030, an additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for manufacture of high efficiency modules, with priority to fully integrated manufacturing units from polysilicon to solar PV modules, will be made."

Big boost for sustainable development through green energy: IREDA CMD

Welcoming the announcement, Pradip Kumar Das, the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) said, "It's a great step by the Govt of India to extend an additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crores for Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for the manufacture of high-efficiency solar PV modules. The additional fund allocation announced by the Hon'ble Finance Minister will be a big boost for the sustainable development of the country through green energy. This is a very significant step towards achieving the goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, in line with commitments made by the Hon'ble Prime Minister at COP26." IREDA is the implementing agency for the solar PV manufacturing PLI Scheme, which had an outlay of Rs 4,500 crore earlier. IREDA has completed the entire process of selection of applicants for the PLI scheme on November 11, 2021 entirely on an e-platform.

In a tweet, state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) termed the announcement "encouraging." "Allocation of Rs 19,500 crores for PLI scheme to boost #Solar module manufacturing is also very encouraging," said EESL.

Industry welcomes hike in solar manufacturing PLI scheme fund

According to SK Gupta, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Amp Energy India, the increased allocation for the solar PV manufacturing PLI scheme will go a long way in ensuring India's self-sufficiency in the sector. "Extending it beyond modules to the complete solar value chain in the need of the hour and has been well recognised in the Budget. This will go a long way in ensuring that India becomes self-sufficient in providing green energy at highly competitive rates in the long run," said Gupta. 

Referring to the decision to grant infrastructure status to energy storage, Gupta said, "Making grid stage battery solutions as part of the Infrastructure projects will give further impetus to seamless integration of renewable generation and distribution systems with improved grid stability."

Welcoming the rise in the PLI scheme budget allocation, Hetal Gandhi, Director at CRISIL Research said, "The in-principle approval of Rs 24,000 crores for PLI allocation towards high-efficiency photovoltaic modules can lead to the setting up of 30-35 GW of solar module capacity and 25-30 GW of cell capacity by 2024. This will reduce the dependence on imports, which stands at 90 percent for cells and 75-80 percent for modules. This will make us self-sufficient in module needs and also open export opportunities for Indian module manufacturers."

'EV battery swapping policy will develop energy storage'

"The announcement to formulate a battery swapping policy with interoperability standards and the decision to assign infrastructure status to energy storage systems will further develop the energy storage technology. It will allow the renewable energy industry to partner with commercial and industrial customers in their decarbonisation journey, standardise battery specifications, and improve EV adoption in the country. The move will also increase grid stability and aid in financing energy storage projects. Together these announcements will accelerate India's progress towards a carbon neutral-future," Ranjit Gupta, MD and CEO of Azure Power said.

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