 "Visweswara Reddy")
Indosol Solar, a solar manufacturing subsidiary of Andhra Pradesh-based Shirdi Sai Electricals Ltd (SSEL) Group was one of the first winners of Centre’s flagship production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar manufacturing. Apart from Reliance Industries, it is also the only one building an end-to-end supply chain under the scheme. VISWESWARA REDDY, chairman and managing director, SSEL Group & Indosol Solar, shared details of Indosol’s solar manufacturing plans in an interview with Shreya Jai in New Delhi. He said the company plans to build an ancillary supply chain, claiming to be the first in the country to do so. Edited excerpts:
What is the status of your PLI-linked manufacturing capacity in Andhra Pradesh?
Our 500 megawatt (Mw) solar PV module facility is already operational. By December 2025, 1 Gw Ingot-to-Module will be operationalised for which additional land has been allocated by the new Andhra government. So far, nobody has started their production under this category of PLI.
By July-August next year, 5 gigawatts (Gw) of Ingot-to-Module with 1,200 tonnes per day (TPD) glass plant will commence. By March 2027, we will have another 10 Gw Ingot-to-Module and 1,200 TPD glass plant. By the end of 2027, we will have 45,000 metric tonnes of polysilicon, that is with a capacity of 15 Gw of polysilicon and metallurgical silica with commercial production. I am sharing maximum timelines, it may happen earlier, but I’m taking the conservative route.
But glass and silica are outside PLI?
Metallurgical silica is not part of PLI, and neither is glass. But to make polysilicon, one must make metallurgical silica. In the international market, the cost of metallurgical silica is around $2.5 right now, invariably because quartz is available with us, the process cost is lower. To bring down the cost, we are making it ourselves. The glass manufacturing takes around 15 per cent of the module cost. Without glass manufacturing, we won’t be able to compete with the Chinese.
At what price range are you looking to offer your solar modules and how competitive will they be to Chinese imports?
Our modules will be equivalent or better than Chinese modules from Tier-1 manufacturers as we will be prioritising quality first. We’re not ready to commit to a specific rate right now. Even in the worst-case scenario, the Chinese cost per module is around 13 to 14 cents. So, if somebody is selling at 14 cents, their manufacturing cost would be less than 12 cents. Our aim is to reach that cost. However, the interest cost on our debt and electricity cost will impact our pricing.
Over 90 per cent of the raw material for module manufacturing will be indigenous. We will only import some specialty chemicals, gases, diamond wire, crucibles, and silver paste. Now there are companies trying to manufacture silver paste in India. If that happens, it will further reduce our imports. There is not much left to import.
How much will these two metrics increase your module cost compared to Chinese modules, based on the current prices?
Electricity cost in China is around ₹3.25 - 4 per unit, and ₹5-9 per unit in India. The new Andhra government has given us subsidised power rates of ₹4-4.50 per unit for the next 7-8 years to the extent of 40 per cent of our power consumption. But we are also making our own arrangements. We are confident that we will bring our round-the-clock power costs below ₹4 per unit so that we can nearly match our competitors in China.
For the interest cost, the government needs to make this segment a priority. The government should instruct the banks and NBFCs to provide us with term loans at a base rate. The current rate is around 9.5-10 per cent. So, a reduction of 2-2.5 per cent will definitely help us bring down the cost of the product. We don’t need great subsidies; we need the facilities, as this kind of industry needs land, connectivity, power, and water availability. The basic customs duty on Chinese imports for three to five years is needed to address our interest cost and term loans.
You were also seeking foreign experts, especially from China, for training and setting up factories. What is the status?
India doesn’t have expertise in ingot and wafer, and there’s limited expertise in solar cells. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is ready to recommend visas for the Chinese experts for segments like polysilicon and other critical areas. We’re not seeing any major challenges in that but we asked them to support us in issuing visas for professionals. They will operate the plant and train our people. Meanwhile, we are also sending a few people to Vietnam and China for training. However, that won’t be enough; we need Chinese experts to be here for around 1-1.5 year in order to provide training.
