India to increase solar panel production to reduce China dependence

August 07, 2024 (MLN): India’s Adani Group is planning a 150% increase in its output of solar panels by 2026 to bolster the country’s carbon net zero target and pare dependence on China, as reported by Bloomberg.

The conglomerate is seeking to boost its solar equipment manufacturing capacity to at least 10 gigawatts from 4 gigawatts a year currently, Sagar Adani, executive director of Adani Green Energy Ltd., told Bloomberg Television, as part of the Inside Adani special package.

The company is also building one of the largest renewable energy parks — five times the size of Paris — near India’s western coast with solar panels and wind turbines.

“We are ramping up capacity to ensure that a majority of what we use in our renewables ecosystem is manufactured domestically,” said the 30-year-old nephew of billionaire Gautam Adani. “The group is investing to cut reliance on the imported equipment in the next 18 to 24 months.”

One of four Adani scions being groomed to take over the $202 billion ports-to-power conglomerate as part of a unique succession plan, Sagar also oversees the group’s finances and is confident that internal accruals can fund their planned $100bn investment in renewables over the next decade.

Adani Group’s ramp-up plans are crucial for two of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy pledges — making the country carbon neutral by 2070 and self-reliant, especially in manufacturing.

India is the biggest market for China’s solar modules, creating a supply chain risk. Troops from the two countries have had multiple border clashes over the decades.

Factories from China shipped $2.1bn of solar panels to India in the six months through March 2024, according to BloombergNEF’s analysis.

The Ahmedabad-based conglomerate, which is pivoting away from its fossil fuel roots but still relies heavily on coal for revenues, is pursuing a number of ambitious clean energy goals.

Besides fast-tracking green energy projects to meet its capacity target of 50 gigawatts by 2030, it is manufacturing solar panels wafers, ingots, and wind turbines, according to Sagar, who is the son of patriarch’s younger brother Rajesh Adani.

While India’s clean power capacity crossed a landmark 200 gigawatts earlier this year, the pace of additions needs to accelerate to achieve the country’s green energy target of 500 gigawatts by the decade-end to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Electricity consumption in India will be growing at a very rapid pace and meeting that is going to be a challenge, according to Sagar.

“We are going to have about 600 million people who will be significantly larger consumers of energy in the next couple of years,” he said. “The government has to ensure that their basic energy demands are met. So in sync with that, whatever we need to do, we will do.”

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