Government Awards 11 Firms To Manufacture Solar Cells Under PLI Tranche-II

The government on Tuesday allocated a total capacity of 39,000 megawatts (MW) of domestic Solar Photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing to 11 companies, including Reliance, ReNew, JSW, Tata Power, First Solar and Indosol, Grew Energy under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme (Tranche-II) with a total outlay of Rs 14,007 crore.

The new and renewable energy ministry said that the total manufacturing capacity, totalling 7,400 MW, is expected to become operational by October 2024. 

16,800 MW capacity by April 2025 and the balance 15,400 MW capacity by April 2026, the ministry added.

The second tranche is expected to bring an investment of Rs 93,041 crore, according to the government and will generate a total of 1,01,487 jobs, with 35,010 getting direct employment and 66,477 being directly employed.

Union Power Minister RK Singh said that India was well on its way to climbing up the value chain in the production of the high technology Solar PV modules, and this capacity addition is a major step towards making India ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’

“The PLI program under the ‘National Program on High-Efficiency Solar Modules’ will give a tremendous boost to Indian manufacturers to make high-efficiency solar modules. This also comes at a time when India has set ambitious net-zero targets and has witnessed a steep rise in energy demand. Achieving a gigawatt-scale manufacturing capacity for high-efficiency solar modules will subsequently reduce dependency on imports and boost the Indian economy,” said Vinay Thadani, Director, Grew Energy. 

A total integrated capacity of 8,737 MW was allocated under Tranche-I of the Scheme in November-December 2022. The total domestic solar PV module manufacturing capacity issued under the PLI Scheme is 48,337 MW, the two tranches put together with cumulative support of more than Rs. 18,500 Crore by the government.