AsiaElec: Indian solar hurting without local suppliers

The head of a leading Indian renewables firm has said that the nation’s solar power industry desperately needs improvements across the board in terms of local manufacturing and supply chains.

Without increased domestic infrastructure to help produce the base materials and technology used in the installation of large-scale solar projects, the nation’s current tariff of just INR2.5 per unit is becoming increasingly untenable to many in the industry, says Prashant Jain, the joint managing director and CEO of JSW Energy.

Since late 2021, India has been largely held hostage by higher priced foreign PV imports, something Jain referred to, albeit indirectly, when asked if solar panel prices had stabilised since the start of the year.

“Solar panel prices are still hovering around 30-32 cents per watt peak, and taking into account factors like (Indian) rupee depreciation, the tariff of 2.5 rupees per unit becomes unviable,” he said.

He was much clearer, however, in saying that it is in part the result of excessive costs in the solar power sector across India at present, which means JSW has not made any bids for grid supply or solar capacity in the past year.