Monday, March 31, 2014: Government of India’s (GOI) Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) targeted a total of 750 MW of solar power capacity in its second phase, of which 375 MW was exclusively set under domestic content requirement (DCR). The National Solar Federation (NSF) has said “that not more than 30 to 35 per cent of the projects will be completed” under the JNNSM.
As per DCR policy, 375 MW of solar power projects will be build from domestically manufactured solar cells and other components. The rest of the capacity is listed as open category wherein developers are free to use components from foreign manufacturers.
According to a PVMagazine report, Deepak Gupta, director general NSF said, “Actual domestic cell manufacturing capacity available for current batch of NSM projects is far less than the claims made by domestic cell manufacturers. The operational capacity is not more than 100 to 150 MW/annum against the boiler plate / installed capacity of 500 to 700 MW. Most of the non-operational plants have very limited potential due to vintage equipment and technology and most of the Operational Capacities have also been unused or lying idle for quite some time. This would mean that not more than 30 to 35 per cent of the projects will be completed,” in a letter to MNRE and SECI. NSF is an organisation body of manufacturers and stakeholders from the solar industry, and was set up in May 2013.
In an earlier report, the Indian solar power projects developers has also complained that the domestically manufactured solar parts like solar cells and wafers lack in production quality against the international manufacturers, by good margins. Local manufacturers have failed to contend against foreign manufacturers in terms of costs, technology, reliability and efficiency.
Gupta added, “In view of the current cartelisation behavior of domestic manufacturers, it has become impossible for developers to execute DCR projects. This is a serious threat to the Solar Mission.” NSF has asked the GOI to extend the deadline for DCR projects by 13 to 24 months.
