“Owing to policy bottlenecks, lack of a long-term vision and support for domestic solar manufacturers, India has been lagging behind across the whole solar manufacturing chain.
With the PLI Scheme, the government is pushing for growth of integrated manufacturing from polysilicon, ingots, wafers and cells to PV modules.
There are some drawbacks with the complex incentive structure. Very few companies or JVs will be eligible to apply for the scheme, while also completely leaving out MSMEs. Indian businesses usually start as small companies and expand to become larger organizations.
With an integrated approach and the capacity cap, only those with large manufacturing capacities will be able to sustain in such a competitive environment. If the government wants to create a manufacturing ecosystem, they should allow standalone factories of modules, cells and other raw materials.
Manufacturers from other countries will definitely have an advantage given their track record, R&D, capital and experience – Indian companies will have to up the ante through R&D to offer better efficiency modules than the current offerings.”
