Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a plan for projects to be enabled by public bodies in the hope that avoiding competitive procurement will enable it to circumvent WTO rules related to import parity.

India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered 1.5 GW worth of solar cell and module manufacturing capacity linked to ISTS connected solar PV power plants for an aggregate capacity of 3 GW. The plants are to be developed on ‘build own operate’ basis. The maximum tariff payable to the project developers has been fixed at Rs 2.75/kWh for 25 years.

A week after rejecting the sole bid received from Azure Power, India has trimmed the size of its first ever manufacturing-linked solar tender by more than two-thirds.

At the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee meeting, the South Korean government urged China to lift import measures against its polyoxymethylene, optical fiber, polysilicon and grain-oriented electrical steel. China imposed duties on polysilicon from South Korea and the United States in July 2013.

Delhi-based solar developer Azure Power had bid for a 2 GW project on a single site, as well as 600 MW of manufacturing capacity. According to reports, the government has rejected the bid, however, stating that the quoted price is unreasonable.

The Indian government may impose anti-dumping duty of US$ 114.58 per tonne on tempered solar glass imports from Malaysia in order to provide a level playing field to domestic manufacturers.

The fate of the clutch of 500 MW-plus projects due to break ground this year could determine whether such ambitious schemes have a viable future, says Wood Mackenzie in its solar 2019 forecast. And the Indian market should brace for consolidation, add the analysts, because of aggressive reverse-auction tariff pricing.

Head of industrial conglomerate makes pledge at Vibrant Gujarat Summit as part of his company’s ambition to install 10 GW of renewables capacity by 2022.

At the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, Tata Group and Adani have announced plans to invest in lithium ion battery manufacturing in Gujarat. Chromeni Steels, a joint venture company of China’s Tsingshan Industries, will invest US$ 3 billion to manufacture stainless steel and electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

At the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, HyET Solar will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state to set up a solar module manufacturing facility.