EQ In Exclusive Conversation With Mr. Manish Gupta – Chairman & Mr. Vikas Jain – Managing Director & Mr Vineet Tyagi – Head sales & Marketing – Insolation Energy

Company Specific Questions

1. How much business have you done last financial year in India

Year 2022-23 passed has been full of varied and challenging activities such as commissioning of new module manufacturing plant, aligning our business with policy changes. Despite of these challenges INA has achieved ever highest turnover of Rs 300 Crore.

2. What’s your target or anticipated business for this FY for India

Our turn over target for the year ahead 2023-24 is Rs 500 Cr through existing operations and diversified initiatives.

3. What are your current product/technology/service offerings

We are prominently a State of art Solar Module Manufacturing company covering entire range and technology being commercially deployed globally such as Mono / Multi / Bifacial / modules 40 Watt to 545Watt. Product range also covers Combo Solutions for small or critical power needs such Solar PCU, Batteries and Charge controllers. We do offer turnkey solar solution services for MW Scale projects& rooftop solar across the country.

4. What are the product launch plans for this year

We have recently commissioned 500 MW of fully automatic modules line and launched M 10 cells based 545 W+ modules along with bifacial modules. In the coming months we plan to launch 600W+ range of solar modules based on demand & commercial terms. We have another module line in pipeline for launching Topcon based modules

5. Whats ort of pricing roadmap,demand-supply gap you anticipate for this FY

Pricing has been dynamic over past decade and so as this year. I still see the consolidation of prices in Indian Market in this year. There could be less projects specially asking for DCR modules however the market shall have mixed requirement and truly challenging and competitive environment.

Indian manufacturing now is at its best in terms of quality and fast catching up its space in Global market.

6. Tell us more about your own professional journey, key learnings, key message from yourself

It has been a phenomenal journey for INA in last 6 years while being with my partner and promoter Mr Vikas Jain. We started with 60 MW line & the capacity has increased more than ten times within a short span. Our products & services have been well accepted & appreciated by our clients across various segments from utility scale to rooftop to distributed solar. Our focus has always been on offering quality based products. We keep ourselves abreast of latest technologies in the ever-changing environment. Anticipating market challenges and working with proactiveness is the key to success.

YoY manufacturing capacity, product range, geographical reach and stakeholders’ confidence has progressed very well with more than double digit growth.

7. Please tell us more about your company, directors in detail

INA has a consistent track record of profitable and sustainable operations over last six years. Company’s growth over last two years has been multi fold both in terms of building manufacturing capacity, product diversifications and geographical reach. Company’s products are compiled with specifications in the sectors such as Telecom, Defence, Railways& various other Departments.

Company board is most reputed board having industry leaders and mentors such as Dr AK Jain Ex MD REIL and Shri KS Popli Ex CMD IREDA. The Board carries with it years of experience and expertise in solar & allied sectors. The company is well positioned to be one of the most prominent leaders in the solar manufacturing sector.

Market Specific Questions

1. What is the Opportunity in India Currently…in Terms of Projects in Tender, Pipeline etc… Opportunities in Manufacturing etc…

India’s plan to install 500 GW (gigawatt) of renewable energy capacity by 2030.Of this about 300 GW is planned from solar. Currently our installed capacity is to the tune of 65 GW. This means to meet this ambitious target we need to add appr 30 GW of solar capacity every year. Apart from this since the world is looking at China +1 policy we should gear ourself for export opportunities as well. The demand is expected to be robust in the coming years. As far as manufacturing is concerned, India’s solar module manufacturing capacity is apprx 40 GW and is expected to reach 100 GW by fiscal 2026. There is plenty of scope in the cell manufacturing which currently is very modest at apprx 5 GW. Above all this we have practically nil wafer and silicone capacity.

2. What kind of market do you anticipate in 2023 in terms of Utility / C&I / Residential

The market is expected to be very promising in 2023. The major chunk is expected to come from utility scale segment. We expect 15 GW of utility scale projects in the current year. The rooftop segment is expected to be about 2.5 GW.

3. Which regions or states looks most promising to you for 2023

States like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nādu & Telangana are flag bearers as far as installed solar capacity is concerned. We expect this trend to continue in 2023 as well given the current pipeline in these states.

4. How much manufacturing capacity India has in terms of Solar Modules, Inverters, Cells etc and whats your anticipation in capacity addition in 2023 Module capacity has reached to 50 GW and another 50 GW is under planning stage.

As discussed above the active module and cell manufacturing currently stand at 40 GW & 5 GW approximately. With the PLI scheme already announced by the Govt of India the figures are expected to touch 100 GW & 40 GW by 2025 for modules & cell respectively.

5. Visible Changes in RE Industry w.r.t. Energy Storage, RTC, Hybrid RE Projects, Floating etc and their likely impact.

The solar has been going great guns in India. We are sitting at a cumulative capacity of 65 GW as on date. With this there are hiccups as well in terms of lack of efficient transmission system, availability of generation at the time and place of requirement, availability of cheap land, grid instability etc . To address these issues the role of energy storage, hybrid RE projects, floating solar are the need of the hour. There are several benefits of solar storage, including storing excess energy for use during periods of high demand, reducing your reliance on the grid, and providing backup power in case of an outage. Similarly floating solar helps in efficient space utilization. These segments are expected to give further fillip to the solar sector.

6. What kind of growth do you see coming in the Residential Sector Demand

Rooftop solar is one of the very promising solar segments. However, the segment has not achieved the desired capacity additions. Various factors like lack of interest on the part of discoms, lack of availability of cheap funds, Centre- states relations, lack of uniformity in policies across states are some of the factors responsible for this. We are still very optimistic on rooftop solar given the excellent work done by the states like Gujarat, Maharashtra etc and the same can be replicated in other states as well.

7. Whats your expectations from the Government, Policy Makers and Regulators

Indian manufacturers have been working cohesively with Government & regulators for achieving 300 GW by 2030. The Govt has taken major initiatives in terms of PLI ,BCDetc to give a boost to domestic manufacturing capacity. The manufacturers understand the importance of quality and have appreciated the measures like introduction of BIS. However long-term policy vision backed up by the time bound execution is the need of the hour. Policy flip flops like ALMM extension creates uncertainty in demand stability. We expect the Govt to announce additional incentives for the SME sectors since they are the biggest job creators.