The rampant imports from China and dumping of components have severely impacted local manufacturing of solar panels in India. Just like the automobile industry, where we have heavy import duties on imported cars, so the same should be continued for this sector also, Prashant Mathur Chief Executive Officer, Saatvik Solar told BW Businessworld.
If the government keeps the same policies for the Indian market, the country will become a top exporter of solar panels. Like the automobile sector this sector also needs protection as there's a security issue also involved in buying imported Chinese products, he added.
“Once we build that ecosystem Indian economy will create a lot of employment in the country, because a cell manufacturing company employs thousands of workers and manpower. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project requires thousands of people to implement. So, it is good for the economy and the government needs to keep the policies stable and hold on to any imports or dumping happening from China,” Mathur said.
On the dependence of industry on China, he said that a few years back India used to import almost 70 per cent of solar panel manufacturing components from China and just 30 per cent of the value addition was happening in India. But now things have changed and only 28 to 30 per cent of the component is now imported, whereas 70 per cent of value addition is done in India. “Furthermore, in the next two to three years entire value chain will be made in India,” he said.
Started with a modest 200 megawatt capacity, Saatvik Solar started its journey in India In 2016, and today the company is at 3.8 gigawatt capacity. “Saatvik’s journey was initially a roller coaster ride, but the last few years have seen quite robust growth, we have continuously grown our revenues in the last four years and currently we have Rs 1,100 crore of revenue. The company currently has three plants in Ambala apart from that we are also doing engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC),” he said.
He added that we are setting up four-gigawatt module manufacturing and two-gigawatt cell manufacturing and that's going to come from next year onwards. With plans for future cell manufacturing and the establishment of new plants in Jammu, Orissa, and potentially southern India, ‘’We aim to further solidify our role in driving India’s solar energy sector forward," Mathur added.
The company also has a foothold in the Middle East and Africa. They also intend to set up manufacturing in the US after elections currently they have an active customer base in the country.
“India’s per capita energy consumption is among the lowest in the world, with the growing middle class and people becoming more affluent, the energy requirement is going to increase and most of it is going to come from renewable energy. 500 gigawatt is just one step, which will be even bigger in the coming years. Last year, India did close to about 18 gigawatt. This year we are expecting India will be close to 25 to 30 gigawatt and it will stabilise somewhere around 45 to 50 gigawatt every year. We have already crossed 100 gigawatt installations and the country is very well poised to achieve the target,” said the CEO while talking about India’s ambitious plan to hit 500 gigawatt of renewables by 2030.
While emphasising the need for energy storage and the company’s commitment to its manufacturing, Mathur said that solar is only available in the day. As long as there is a shortage of power, solar plays a part. But as the grid becomes more and more dependent on solar, one can expect instability in the grid during non-peak hours. To tackle this government is bringing projects like solar wind, solar wind storage, green hydrogen, and various similar kinds of projects to solve the issues.
