Friday, January 31, 2014: Locally-made solar power equipment has always sufferred a serious setback in India, rather the same has struggled to compete with cheaper imports primarily from China. The Indian industry for long has been lobbying with the government to encourage use of more locally-made equipment, however all in vain, until now! The country is now planning to invest a whopping $480 million to set up its first unit for manufacturing solar silicon cells. The move is aimed towards building the world’s largest solar power plant in the country all with in-house material.
“Today, not a single silicon chip for solar energy is manufactured in India. Every solar panel which is made in India is assembled while all the material comes from China, Europe and some other countries,” Praful Patel, heavy industries minister, was quoted as saying.
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is among the six companies that will build the first phase of the project that is expected to conclude in the next three years. The ministry of heavy industries will seek financial support from the government for partly funding the first phase of the project. There will be a total of four phases each costing about $1.1 billion and will be completed in a period of seven years. The cabinet of India is expected to formally approve of the solar power project anytime next month.
